This is the hour to rededicate ourselves to the faith in mankind that makes us strong.

This is the hour to rededicate ourselves to the faith in God that gives us confidence as we face the challenge of the years ahead.

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State of the Union Address
Harry S. Truman
January 5, 1949

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Congress: 

I am happy to report to this 81st Congress that the state of the Union is good.  Our Nation is better able than ever before to meet the needs of the American people, and to give them their fair chance in the pursuit of happiness.  This great Republic is foremost among the nations of the world in the search for peace.

During the last 16 years, our people have been creating a society which offers new opportunities for every man to enjoy his share of the good things of life.

In this society, we are conservative about the values and principles which we cherish; but we are forward-looking in protecting those values and principles and in extending their benefits.  We have rejected the discredited theory that the fortunes of the Nation should be in the hands of a privileged few.  We have abandoned the “trickledown” concept of national prosperity.  Instead, we believe that our economic system should rest on a democratic foundation and that wealth should be created for the benefit of all.

The recent election shows that the people of the United States are in favor of this kind of society and want to go on improving it.

The American people have decided that poverty is just as wasteful and just as unnecessary as preventable disease.  We have pledged our common resources to help one another in the hazards and struggles of individual life.  We believe that no unfair prejudice or artificial distinction should bar any citizen of the United States of America from an education, or from good health, or from a job that he is capable of performing.

The attainment of this kind of society demands the best efforts of every citizen in every walk of life, and it imposes increasing responsibilities on the Government.

The Government must work with industry, labor, and the farmers in keeping our economy running at full speed.  The Government must see that every American has a chance to obtain his fair share of our increasing abundance.  These responsibilities go hand in hand.

We cannot maintain prosperity unless we have a fair distribution of opportunity and a widespread consumption of the products of our factories and farms.

Our Government has undertaken to meet these responsibilities.

We have made tremendous public investments in highways, hydroelectric power projects, soil conservation, and reclamation.  We have established a system of social security.  We have enacted laws protecting the rights and the welfare of our working people and the income of our farmers.  These Federal policies have paid for themselves many times over.  They have strengthened the material foundations of our democratic ideals.  Without them, our present prosperity would be impossible.