Particularly, in the past year, this tide has changed the pattern of attitudes and thinking among millions.  The changes already accomplished foreshadow a world transformed by the spirit of freedom.  This is no faint and pious hope.  The forces now at work in the minds and hearts of men will not be spent through many years.  In the main, today’s expressions of nationalism are, in spirit, echoes of our forefathers’ struggle for independence.

This Republic cannot be aloof to these events heralding a new epoch in the affairs of mankind.

Our pledged word, our enlightened self-interest, our character as a Nation commit us to a high role in world affairs:  a role of vigorous leadership, ready strength, sympathetic understanding.

The State of the Union, at the opening of the 85th Congress continues to vindicate the wisdom of the principles on which this Republic is rounded.  Proclaimed in the Constitution of the Nation and in many of our historic documents, and rounded in devout religious convictions, these principles enunciate: 

A vigilant regard for human liberty.

A wise concern for human welfare.

A ceaseless effort for human progress.

Fidelity to these principles, in our relations with other peoples, has won us new friendships and has increased our opportunity for service within the family of nations.  The appeal of these principles is universal, lighting fires in the souls of men everywhere.  We shall continue to uphold them, against those who deny them and in counselling with our friends.

At home, the application of these principles to the complex problems of our national life has brought us to an unprecedented peak in our economic prosperity and has exemplified in our way of life the enduring human values of mind and spirit.

Through the past four years these principles have guided the legislative programs submitted by the Administration to the Congress.  As we attempt to apply them to current events, domestic and foreign, we must take into account the complex entity that is the United States of America; what endangers it; what can improve it.

The visible structure is our American economy itself.  After more than a century and a half of constant expansion, it is still rich in a wide variety of natural resources.  It is first among nations in its people’s mastery of industrial skills.  It is productive beyond our own needs of many foodstuffs and industrial products.  It is rewarding to all our citizens in opportunity to earn and to advance in self-realization and in self-expression.  It is fortunate in its wealth of educational and cultural and religious centers.  It is vigorously dynamic in the limitless initiative and willingness to venture that characterize free enterprise.  It is productive of a widely shared prosperity.