State of the Union

State of the Union

The Project Gutenberg EBook of State of the Union Addresses
by Dwight D. Eisenhower (#31 in our series of US Presidential State of
the Union Addresses)
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: State of the Union Addresses of Dwight D. Eisenhower
Author: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5040] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on April 11,
2002]

Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF
ADDRESSES BY DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER ***

This eBook was produced by James Linden.
The addresses are separated by three asterisks: ***
Dates of addresses by Dwight D. Eisenhower in this eBook: February 2,
1953 January 7, 1954 January 6, 1955 January 5, 1956 January 10,
1957 January 9, 1958 January 9, 1959 January 7, 1960 January 12,
1961

***
State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower February 2, 1953
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Eighty-third Congress:
I welcome the honor of appearing before you to deliver my first
message to the Congress.
It is manifestly the joint purpose of the congressional leadership and of
this administration to justify the summons to governmental
responsibility issued last November by the American people. The grand
labors of this leadership will involve:
Application of America's influence in world affairs with such fortitude
and such foresight that it will deter aggression and eventually secure
peace;
Establishment of a national administration of such integrity and such
efficiency that its honor at home will ensure respect abroad;
Encouragement of those incentives that inspire creative initiative in our
economy, so that its productivity may fortify freedom everywhere; and
Dedication to the well-being of all our citizens and to the attainment of
equality of opportunity for all, so that our Nation will ever act with the
strength of unity in every task to which it is called.
The purpose of this message is to suggest certain lines along which our

joint efforts may immediately be directed toward realization of these
four ruling purposes.
The time that this administration has been in office has been too brief
to permit preparation of a detailed and comprehensive program of
recommended action to cover all phases of the responsibilities that
devolve upon our country's new leaders. Such a program will be filled
out in the weeks ahead as, after appropriate study, I shall submit
additional recommendations for your consideration. Today can provide
only a sure and substantial beginning. II.
Our country has come through a painful period of trial and
disillusionment since the victory of 1945. We anticipated a world of
peace and cooperation. The calculated pressures of aggressive
communism have forced us, instead, to live in a world of turmoil.
From this costly experience we have learned one clear lesson. We have
learned that the free world cannot indefinitely remain in a posture of
paralyzed tension, leaving forever to the aggressor the choice of time
and place and means to cause greatest hurt to us at least cost to himself.
This administration has, therefore, begun the definition of a new,
positive foreign policy. This policy will be governed by certain fixed
ideas. They are these:
(1) Our foreign policy must be clear, consistent, and confident. This
means that it must be the product of genuine, continuous cooperation
between the executive and the legislative branches of this Government.
It must be developed and directed in the spirit of true bipartisanship.
(2) The policy we embrace must be a coherent global policy. The
freedom we cherish and defend in Europe and in the Americas is no
different from the freedom that is imperiled in Asia.
(3) Our policy, dedicated to making the free world secure, will envision
all peaceful methods and devices--except breaking faith with our
friends. We shall never acquiesce in the enslavement of any people in
order to purchase fancied gain for ourselves. I shall ask the Congress at
a