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State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 12, 1966 Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the House and the Senate, my fellow Americans: I come before you tonight to report on the State of the Union for the third time. I come here to thank you and to add my tribute, once more, to the Nation's gratitude for this, the 89th Congress.
In 1966 the Black Power Movement had contained more rhetoric than power. In 1971 it was still alive, but blacks were working in practical ways, limiting themselves to workable objectives. The Afro-American community was quietly building community organizations to create the economic and political foundations necessary for the future.
Last January, and again last September, I recommended fiscal and moderate tax measures to try to restrain the unbalanced pace of economic expansion. Legislatively and administratively we took several billions out of the economy. With these measures, in both instances, the Congress approved most of the recommendations rather promptly. As 1966 ended, price stability was seemingly being restored.
Next month we'll begin our 8th year of uninterrupted prosperity. The economic outlook for this year is one of steady growth if we are vigilant. True, there are some clouds on the horizon. Prices are rising. Interest rates have passed the peak of 1966; and if there is continued inaction on the tax bill, they will climb even higher.
In 1966, Congress declared that "improving the quality of urban life is the most critical domestic problem facing the United States." Two years later it affirmed the historic goal of "a decent home . . . for every American family." That is your language.
To advance these ends I will propose the International Education Act of 1966.
Last year, in 1966: Wages were the highest in history and the unemployment rate, announced yesterday, reached the lowest point in 13 years; Total after-tax income of American families rose nearly 5 percent; Corporate profits after taxes rose a little more than 5 percent; Our gross national product advanced 5.5 percent, to about $740 billion; Income per farm went up 6 percent.
Despite all this, the resulting monetary union was surprisingly resilient. It easily absorbed the new currencies of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 1966, making them legal tender in all three and convertible to Pounds. Ironically, it was the Pound which gave way. Its relentless depreciation in the late 60s and early 70s, led to the disintegration of the Sterling Area in 1972.
We believe that we have done better, but we make no pretense of having been successful or doing as well as we wished. Our greatest disappointment in the economy during 1966 was the excessive rise in interest rates and the tightening of credit. They imposed very severe and very unfair burdens on our home buyers and on our home builders, and all those associated with the home industry.
Horses were led out, in many cases, two or three miles from the stations, in order to meet the incoming riders and to secure the supreme limit of speed and endurance on this momentous trip. The document was carried through from St. Joseph to Sacramento 1966 miles in just seven days and seventeen hours, an average speed of ten and six-tenths miles an hour.
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