Several of these goals are going to be very hard to reach.  But the State of our Union will be much stronger 8 years from now on our 200th birthday if we resolve to reach these goals now.  They are more important—­much more important—­than the identity of the party or the President who will then be in office.

These goals are what the fighting and our alliances are really meant to protect.

Can we achieve these goals?

Of course we can—­if we will.

If ever there was a people who sought more than mere abundance, it is our people.

If ever there was a nation that was capable of solving its problems, it is this Nation.

If ever there were a time to know the pride and the excitement and the hope of being an American—­it is this time.

So this, my friends, is the State of our Union:  seeking, building, tested many times in this past year—­and always equal to the test.

Thank you and good night.

***

State of the Union Address
Lyndon B. Johnson
January 14, 1969

Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the Congress and my fellow
Americans: 

For the sixth and the last time, I present to the Congress my assessment of the State of the Union.

I shall speak to you tonight about challenge and opportunity—­and about the commitments that all of us have made together that will, if we carry them out, give America our best chance to achieve the kind of great society that we all want.  Every President lives, not only with what is, but with what has been and what could be.

Most of the great events in his Presidency are part of a larger sequence extending back through several years and extending back through several other administrations.

Urban unrest, poverty, pressures on welfare, education of our people, law enforcement and law and order, the continuing crisis in the Middle East, the conflict in Vietnam, the dangers of nuclear war, the great difficulties of dealing with the Communist powers, all have this much in common:  They and their causes—­the causes that gave rise to them—­all of these have existed with us for many years.  Several Presidents have already sought to try to deal with them.  One or more Presidents will try to resolve them or try to contain them in the years that are ahead of us.

But if the Nation’s problems are continuing, so are this great Nation’s assets: 

—­our economy,

—­the democratic system,

—­our sense of exploration, symbolized most recently by the wonderful flight of the Apollo 8, in which all Americans took great pride,

—­the good commonsense and sound judgment of the American people, and

—­their essential love of justice.

We must not ignore our problems.  But .neither should we ignore our strengths.  Those strengths are available to sustain a President of either party—­to support his progressive efforts both at home and overseas.