For my part, I pledge this Administration will act in the closest consultation with the Congress as we face delicate situations and troubled times throughout the globe.

When I became President only 5 months ago, I promised the last Congress a policy of communication, conciliation, compromise, and cooperation.  I renew that pledge to the new Members of this Congress.

Let me sum it up.  America needs a new direction, which I have sought to chart here today—­a change of course which will:  put the unemployed back to work; increase real income and production; restrain the growth of Federal Government spending; achieve energy independence; and advance the cause of world understanding.

We have the ability.  We have the know-how.  In partnership with the American people, we will achieve these objectives.

As our 200th anniversary approaches, we owe it to ourselves and to posterity to rebuild our political and economic strength.  Let us make America once again and for centuries more to come what it has so long been—­a stronghold and a beacon-light of liberty for the whole world.

Thank you.

***

State of the Union Address
Gerald R. Ford
January 19, 1976

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of the 94th Congress, and distinguished guests: 

As we begin our Bicentennial, America is still one of the youngest nations in recorded history.  Long before our forefathers came to these shores, men and women had been struggling on this planet to forge a better life for themselves and their families.

In man’s long, upward march from savagery and slavery—­throughout the nearly 2,000 years of the Christian calendar, the nearly 6,000 years of Jewish reckoning—­there have been many deep, terrifying valleys, but also many bright and towering peaks.

One peak stands highest in the ranges of human history.  One example shines forth of a people uniting to produce abundance and to share the good life fairly and with freedom.  One union holds out the promise of justice and opportunity for every citizen:  That union is the United States of America.

We have not remade paradise on Earth.  We know perfection will not be found here.  But think for a minute how far we have come in 200 years.

We came from many roots, and we have many branches.  Yet all Americans across the eight generations that separate us from the stirring deeds of 1776, those who know no other homeland and those who just found refuge among our shores, say in unison: 

I am proud of America, and I am proud to be an American.  Life will be a little better here for my children than for me.  I believe this not because I am told to believe it, but because life has been better for me than it was for my father and my mother.  I know it will be better for my children because my hands, my brains, my voice, and my vote can help make it happen.