The basic state of our Union today is sound, and full of promise.
We enter 1973 economically strong, militarily secure and, most important of
all, at peace after a long and trying war.
America continues to provide a better and more abundant life for more of
its people than any other nation in the world. We have passed through one
of the most difficult periods in our history without surrendering to
despair and without dishonoring our ideals as a people.
Looking back, there is a lesson in all this for all of us. The lesson is
one that we sometimes had to learn the hard way over the past few years.
But we did learn it. That lesson is that even potentially destructive
forces can be converted into positive forces when we know how to channel
them, and when we use common sense and common decency to create a climate
of mutual respect and goodwill.
By working together and harnessing the forces of nature, Americans have
unlocked some of the great mysteries of the universe.
Men have walked the surface of the moon and soared to new heights of
discovery.
This same spirit of discovery is helping us to conquer disease and
suffering that have plagued our own planet since the dawn of time.
By working together with the leaders of other nations, we have been able to
build a new hope for lasting peace--for a structure of world order in which
common interest outweighs old animosities, and in which a new generation of
the human family can grow up at peace in a changing world.
At home, we have learned that by working together we can create prosperity
without fanning inflation; we can restore order without weakening freedom.