I am hopeful, and I will try as best I can, with everything I have got, to end this battle and to return our sons to their desires.
Yet as long as others will challenge America’s security and test the clearness of our beliefs with fire and steel, then we must stand or see the promise of two centuries tremble. I believe tonight that you do not want me to try that risk. And from that belief your President summons his strength for the trials that lie ahead in the days to come.
The work must be our work now. Scarred by the weaknesses of man, with whatever guidance God may offer us, we must nevertheless and alone with our mortality, strive to ennoble the life of man on earth.
Thank you, and goodnight.
***
State of the Union Address
Lyndon B. Johnson
January 10, 1967
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of the Congress:
I share with all of you the grief that you feel at the death today of one of the most beloved, respected, and effective Members of this body, the distinguished Representative from Rhode Island, Mr. Fogarty.
I have come here tonight to report to you that this is a time of testing for our Nation.
At home, the question is whether we will continue working for better opportunities for all Americans, when most Americans are already living better than any people in history.