1955 State of the Union Address

Speech by US president Dwight D. Eisenhower

1955 State of the Union AddressDate| January 6, 1955 (1955-01-06)

|

Time| 12:30 p.m. EST[1][2]
Duration| 53 minutes[3]
Venue| House Chamber, United States Capitol
Location| Washington, D.C.
Coordinates| 38°53′23″N 77°00′32″W﻿ / ﻿38.88972°N 77.00889°W﻿ / 38.88972; -77.00889
Type| State of the Union Address
Participants| Dwight D. Eisenhower
Richard Nixon
Sam Rayburn
Previous| 1954 State of the Union Address
Next| 1956 State of the Union Address

The 1955 State of the Union Address was given by the 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, on Thursday, January 6, 1955, to the 84th United States Congress. He said, "Every citizen wants to give full expression to his God-given talents and abilities and to have the recognition and respect accorded under our religious and political traditions."[4] He also said, "To protect our nations and our peoples from the catastrophe of a "nuclear holocaust", free nations must maintain countervailing military power to persuade the Communists of the futility of seeking their ends through aggression." He is referring to what seemed to be the high likelihood of nuclear warfare of the time. He ended with, "And so, I know with all my heart--and I deeply believe that all Americans know--that, despite the anxieties of this divided world, our faith, and the cause in which we all believe, will surely prevail."

This State of the Union Address was Eisenhower's longest in terms of word count at 7,250 words for a spoken address (though his written 1956 address was longer),[5] but it was his second longest in terms of length of delivery, clocking in at 53 minutes[3] while his first State of the Union Address, mostly due to frequent applause, clocked in at 56 minutes.[6] At the end of his speech, Eisenhower apologized for its length, stating, "And now my friends, my apologies for the length of this address," and little later in the recording he is again heard saying, "Sorry to keep you so long!" to someone in the background.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* 1954 United States elections

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Today's Television Highlights". Newsday. Hempstead, New York. January 5, 1955. p. 64. Retrieved March 14, 2024. "ABC, CBS, NBC, and DuMont televise President Eisenhower's State of the Union message at 12:30 PM tomorrow."
2. ^ Edson, Arthur (January 7, 1955). "General Who Lost Political Battle Enters Enemy Camp". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. 1. Retrieved March 14, 2024. "At 12:31 P. M. today the House doorkeeper, William N. 'Fishbait' Miller, hurried down the center aisle of the House, paused and announced: 'The President of the United States.' And the general [Eisenhower] who had lost a political war [1954 midterm elections] smilingly advanced into the camp of the enemy to talk of the state of the union."
3. ^ a b c "Speeches". Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, and Boyhood Home. United States National Archives. August 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
4. ^ "State of the Union Address: Dwight D. Eisenhower (January 6, 1955)". www.infoplease.com. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
5. ^ Peters, Gerhard. "Length of State of the Union Messages and Addresses in Words". The American Presidency Project. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
6. ^ "GOP Greets President With Cheer a Minute". Philadelphia Inquirer. February 3, 1953. p. 2. Retrieved March 14, 2024. "Hand clapping was heard 55 times during the 56-minute speech, mostly from the GOP side of the aisle."

## External links

[edit]

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

1955 State of the Union Address

* 1955 State of the Union Address (audio) at Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home

Preceded by

1954 State of the Union Address

|  State of the Union addresses
1955  | Succeeded by

1956 State of the Union Address

|
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State of the Union (list)

* Joint session of Congress
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| Washington|

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Trump (2)|

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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

* v
* t
* e

Dwight D. Eisenhower

* 34th President of the United States (1953–1961)
* Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1951–1952)
* Chief of Staff of the Army (1945–1948)
* Commander, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (1943–1945)

Military
career|

* Military career
* 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy
* Louisiana Maneuvers
* Operation Torch
* European Theater of Operations
* Allied invasion of Sicily
* Armistice of Cassibile
* June 6, 1944, order of the day
* People of Western Europe speech
* Normandy landings
* Operation Veritable
* Berlin Declaration
* Military Governor, U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany
* Disarmed Enemy Forces
* European Advisory Commission
* Supreme Commander of NATO, 1951-1952

Presidency
(timeline)|

* Transition
* 1953 inauguration
* 1957 inauguration
* State of the Union Address
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* Cabinet
* Judicial appointments
* Supreme Court
* Farewell address
* "Military–industrial complex"
* Kennedy transition
* Executive Orders
* Presidential Proclamations

| Foreign policy|

* Eisenhower Doctrine
* Korean War
* 1953; Korean Armistice Agreement
* 1953 Iranian coup d'état
* "Chance for Peace" speech (1953)
* Cold War
* Domino theory
* Khrushchev, Eisenhower and De-Stalinization
* New Look policy
* 1955 Geneva Summit
* 1960 U-2 incident
* Atomic Energy Act of 1954
* Atoms for Peace
* Restricted Data
* Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954
* Food for Peace
* Suez Crisis (1956)
* DARPA (1958)
* EURATOM Cooperation Act of 1958
* National Aeronautics and Space Act
* 1958; NASA
* Operation 40 (1960)

|

Domestic policy|

* Executive Order 10479 (1953)
* Outer Continental Shelf Act (1953)
* Refugee Relief Act (1953)
* Submerged Lands Act (1953)
* U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1953)
* Agricultural Act of 1954
* National Wool Act of 1954
* Special Milk Program
* Excise Tax Reduction Act of 1954
* Internal Revenue Code of 1954
* Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954
* Small Watershed Program
* Air Pollution Control Act of 1955
* Agricultural Act of 1956
* Soil Bank Act
* Soil Bank Program
* Federal Voting Assistance Program (1955)
* Bank Holding Company Act (1956)
* Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956
* Interstate Highway System
* Highway Trust Fund
* Fish and Wildlife Act (1956)
* People to People Student Ambassador Program (1956)
* President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (1956)
* Civil Rights Act of 1957
* U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
* U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
* Federal Plant Pest Act of 1957
* Little Rock Nine intervention (1957)
* Price–Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act (1957)
* Alaska Statehood Act (1958)
* Humane Slaughter Act (1958)
* National Defense Education Act
* 1958; Federal Perkins Loan
* Student loans in the United States
* Hawaii Admission Act (1959)
* Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960
* Civil Rights Act of 1960
* Sikes Act (1960)

Books|

* Crusade in Europe (1948)

Elections|

* Draft Eisenhower movement
* Republican Party presidential primaries (1948
* 1952
* 1956)
* Republican National Convention (1952
* 1956)
* United States Presidential election (1952
* 1956)

Legacy|

* Bibliography
* Birthplace
* Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum, gravesite
* Boyhood home
* Eisenhower National Historic Site
* Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial
* Eisenhower Executive Office Building
* Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport
* Eisenhower Fellowships
* Eisenhower Institute
* Eisenhower Monument
* Eisenhower dollar
* Eisenhower Centennial silver dollar
* U.S. Postage stamps
* Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center
* Eisenhower Medical Center
* Eisenhower Trophy
* Eisenhower Tunnel
* Eisenhower Golf Club
* Eisenhower Theater
* Statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower (U.S. Capitol)
* Fort Eisenhower
* Mount Eisenhower
* Places named for Eisenhower
* Other tributes and memorials

Popular
culture|

* Eisenhower jacket
* Eisenhower Tree
* Crusade in Europe (1949 television series)
* Backstairs at the White House (1979 miniseries)
* Ike (1979 miniseries)
* Ike: Countdown to D-Day (2004 film)
* Pressure (2014 play)

Family|

* Mary "Mamie" Geneva Doud Eisenhower (wife)
* John Eisenhower (son)
* David Eisenhower (grandson)
* Anne Eisenhower (granddaughter)
* Susan Eisenhower (granddaughter)
* Mary Jean Eisenhower (granddaughter)
* Jennie Eisenhower (great-granddaughter)
* Ida Stover Eisenhower (mother)
* Arthur Eisenhower (brother)
* Edgar N. Eisenhower (brother)
* Roy Eisenhower (brother)
* Earl D. Eisenhower (brother)
* Milton S. Eisenhower (brother)

Related|

* Eisenhower baseball controversy
* Camp David
* "And I don't care what it is"
* Atoms for Peace Award
* Introduction to Outer Space
* Eddie Slovik
* Kay Summersby

* ← Harry S. Truman
* John F. Kennedy →

* Category

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