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Speech by US president Lyndon B. Johnson
The
1965
State of the Union Address
was given by
Lyndon B. Johnson
, the 36th president of the United States, on Monday, January 4, 1965, to the
89th United States Congress
in the chamber of the
United States House of Representatives
.
[2]
It was Johnson's second
State of the Union Address
. Presiding over this joint session was
House speaker
John W. McCormack
, accompanied by
President pro tempore
Carl Hayden
, in his capacity as the
acting president of the Senate
since the office of
Vice President
was vacant. (This was because
Vice President-elect
Hubert Humphrey
was not sworn in until January 20, 1965.) To date,
Carl Hayden
is the last president pro tempore to preside at a State of the Union Address.
In this speech, Johnson stated that the state of the union was dependent on the state of the world and discussed various issues of foreign policy including the
Vietnam War
.
[3]
Johnson further discussed the aims of his
Great Society
initiative and set forth several proposals to advance it, stating
[3]
We worked for two centuries to climb this peak of prosperity. But we are only at the beginning of the road to the Great Society. Ahead now is a summit where freedom from the wants of the body can help fulfill the needs of the spirit. We built this Nation to serve its people. We want to grow and build and create, but we want progress to be the servant and not the master of man. We do not intend to live in the midst of abundance, isolated from neighbors and nature, confined by blighted cities and bleak suburbs, stunted by a poverty of learning and an emptiness of leisure. The Great Society asks not how much, but how good; not only how to create wealth but how to use it; not only how fast we are going, but where we are headed.
[2]
This was the first State of the Union Address to be broadcast on television in a
prime-time
slot in the evening.
[4]
The
New York Times
noted that this decision likely doubled or tripled the size of the audience.
[2]
It also enabled major television networks to promote the event and have commentators on hand to discuss it.
[2]
The first State of the Union Address to be delivered in the evening for a radio broadcast was
Franklin D. Roosevelt
's
1936 State of the Union Address
, and the first State of the Union Address to be broadcast on television was
Harry S. Truman
's
1947 State of the Union Address
, but this address was the first to be broadcast both on television and in the evening.
[4]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Peters, Gerhard.
"Length of State of the Union Addresses in Minutes (from 1964)"
.
The American Presidency Project
. Retrieved
March 12,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Johnson, Lyndon B. (January 4, 1965).
"Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union"
.
The American Presidency Project
. Retrieved
March 13,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"January 4, 1965: State of the Union"
.
Miller Center
. University of Virginia
. Retrieved
March 13,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Langone, Alix (January 30, 2018).
"How the State of the Union Address Made Its Broadcast Debut"
.
Time
. Retrieved
March 13,
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikisource
has original text related to this article:
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- Legend:
Address to Joint Session
- Written message
- Written message with national radio address
* Split into multiple parts
- †
Included a detailed written supplement
- ‡
Not officially a "State of the Union"
Presidents
William Henry Harrison
(1841) and
James Garfield
(1881) died in office before delivering a State of the Union
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