A recognition of what the Soviet empire is about is the starting point.  Winston Churchill, in negotiating with the Soviets, observed that they respect only strength and resolve in their dealings with other nations.  That’s why we’ve moved to reconstruct our national defenses.  We intend to keep the peace.  We will also keep our freedom.

We have made pledges of a new frankness in our public statements and worldwide broadcasts.  In the face of a climate of falsehood and misinformation, we’ve promised the world a season of truth—­the truth of our great civilized ideas:  individual liberty, representative government, the rule of law under God.  We’ve never needed walls or minefields or barbed wire to keep our people in.  Nor do we declare martial law to keep our people from voting for the kind of government they want.

Yes, we have our problems; yes, we’re in a time of recession.  And it’s true, there’s no quick fix, as I said, to instantly end the tragic pain of unemployment.  But we will end it.  The process has already begun, and we’ll see its effect as the year goes on.

We speak with pride and admiration of that little band of Americans who overcame insuperable odds to set this nation on course 200 years ago.  But our glory didn’t end with them.  Americans ever since have emulated their deeds.

We don’t have to turn to our history books for heroes.  They’re all around us.  One who sits among you here tonight epitomized that heroism at the end of the longest imprisonment ever inflicted on men of our Armed Forces.  Who will ever forget that night when we waited for television to bring us the scene of that first plane landing at Clark Field in the Philippines, bringing our POW’s home?  The plane door opened and Jeremiah Denton came slowly down the ramp.  He caught sight of our flag, saluted it, said, “God bless America,” and then thanked us for bringing him home.

Just 2 weeks ago, in the midst of a terrible tragedy on the Potomac, we saw again the spirit of American heroism at its finest—­the heroism of dedicated rescue workers saving crash victims from icy waters.  And we saw the heroism of one of our young government employees, Lenny Skutnik, who, when he saw a woman lose her grip on the helicopter line, dived into the water and dragged her to safety.

And then there are countless, quiet, everyday heroes of American who sacrifice long and hard so their children will know a better life than they’ve known; church and civic volunteers who help to feed, clothe, nurse, and teach the needy; millions who’ve made our nation and our nation’s destiny so very special—­unsung heroes who may not have realized their own dreams themselves but then who reinvest those dreams in their children.  Don’t let anyone tell you that America’s best days are behind her, that the American spirit has been vanquished.  We’ve seen it triumph too often in our lives to stop believing in it now.

A hundred and twenty years ago, the greatest of all our Presidents delivered his second State of the Union message in this Chamber.  “We cannot escape history,” Abraham Lincoln warned.  “We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves.”  The “trial through which we pass will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest (last) generation.”