 | |
| Date | January 14, 1969 (1969-01-14) |
|---|---|
| Time | 9:00 p.m.EST |
| Duration | 44 minutes[1] |
| Venue | House Chamber,United States Capitol |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′23″N77°00′32″W / 38.88972°N 77.00889°W /38.88972; -77.00889 |
| Type | State of the Union Address |
| Participants | Lyndon B. Johnson Hubert Humphrey John W. McCormack |
| Previous | 1968 State of the Union Address |
| Next | 1970 State of the Union Address |
The1969State of the Union Address was given byLyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, on Tuesday, January 14, 1969, to the91st United States Congress in the chamber of theUnited States House of Representatives.[2] It was Johnson's sixth and finalState of the Union Address. Presiding over this joint session wasHouse speakerJohn W. McCormack, accompanied byVice PresidentHubert Humphrey, in his capacity as thepresident of the Senate.
Johnson's speech functioned effectively as afarewell address, focusing on the major accomplishments of his administration. Like Johnson's previous State of the Union Addresses, this address included discussion of Johnson'sGreat Society initiatives and theVietnam War.[2] Johnson said that his greatest regret as president was his inability to pass a law creating a federalgun registry:
Frankly, as I leave the Office of the Presidency, one of my greatest disappointments is our failure to secure passage of a licensing and registration act for firearms. I think if we had passed that act, it would have reduced the incidence of crime. I believe that the Congress should adopt such a law, and I hope that it will at a not too distant date.[2]
At the end of his speech, Johnson thanked many individuals for their counsel and assistance during his time in office. These included former presidentsHarry S. Truman andDwight D. Eisenhower, Vice PresidentHubert Humphrey, House SpeakerJohn W. McCormack,House Majority LeaderCarl Albert, SenatorMike Mansfield,President pro temporeRichard Brevard Russell, andRepublican congressional leaders SenatorEverett Dirksen andHouse Minority LeaderGerald Ford.[2] Johnson then urged that no one should increase burdens onPresident-electRichard Nixon for the sake of partisanship, and then he closed his speech with these words:
Now, it is time to leave. I hope it may be said, a hundred years from now, that by working together we helped to make our country more just, more just for all of its people, as well as to insure and guarantee the blessings of liberty for all of our posterity. That is what I hope. But I believe that at least it will be said that we tried.[2]
| Preceded by | State of the Union addresses 1969 | Succeeded by |
 | This article related to thepolitics of the United States is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
.jpg)
