I do not close this message implying that all is well—­that all problems are solved.  For progress implies both new and continuing problems and, unlike Presidential administrations, problems rarely have terminal dates.

Abroad, there is the continuing Communist threat to the freedom of Berlin, an explosive situation in Laos, the problems caused by Communist penetration of Cuba, as well as the many problems connected with the development of the new nations in Africa.  These areas, in particular, call for delicate handling and constant review.

At home, several conspicuous problems remain:  promoting higher levels of employment, with special emphasis on areas in which heavy unemployment has persisted; continuing to provide for steady economic growth and preserving a sound currency; bringing our balance of payments into more reasonable equilibrium and continuing a high level of confidence in our national and international systems; eliminating heavily excessive surpluses of a few farm commodities; and overcoming deficiencies in our health and educational programs.

Our goal always has been to add to the spiritual, moral, and material strength of our nation.  I believe we have done this.  But it is a process that must never end.  Let us pray that leaders of both the near and distant future will be able to keep the nation strong and at peace, that they will advance the well-being of all our people, that they will lead us on to still higher moral standards, and that, in achieving these goals, they will maintain a reasonable balance between private and governmental responsibility.

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State of the Union Address
John F. Kennedy
January 30, 1961

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

It is a pleasure to return from whence I came.  You are among my oldest friends in Washington—­and this House is my oldest home.  It was here, more than 14 years ago, that I first took the oath of Federal office.  It was here, for 14 years, that I gained both knowledge and inspiration from members of both parties in both Houses—­from your wise and generous leaders—­and from the pronouncements which I can vividly recall, sitting where you now sit—­including the programs of two great Presidents, the undimmed eloquence of Churchill, the soaring idealism of Nehru, the steadfast words of General de Gaulle.  To speak from this same historic rostrum is a sobering experience.  To be back among so many friends is a happy one.

I am confident that that friendship will continue.  Our Constitution wisely assigns both joint and separate roles to each branch of the government; and a President and a Congress who hold each other in mutual respect will neither permit nor attempt any trespass.  For my part, I shall withhold from neither the Congress nor the people any fact or report, past, present, or future, which is necessary for an informed judgment of our conduct and hazards.  I shall neither shift the burden of executive decisions to the Congress, nor avoid responsibility for the outcome of those decisions.