In January 1952 United States president Harry Truman delivered his State of the Union address to Congress. The vast majority of Truman’s speech focused on Cold War issues such as military preparedness, civil defence, armaments and foreign relations:
“Mr President, Mr Speaker, members of the Congress. I have the honour to report to the Congress on the state of the Union…
The United States and the whole free world are passing through a period of grave danger. Every action you take here in Congress, and every action that I take as president must be measured against the test of whether it helps to meet that danger…
We are moving through a perilous time. Faced with a terrible threat of aggression, our nation has embarked upon a great effort to help establish the kind of world in which peace shall be secure. Peace is our goal – not peace at any price but a peace based on freedom and justice. We are now in the midst of our effort to reach that goal. On the whole, we have been doing very well.
Last year, 1951, was a year in which we threw back aggression, added greatly to our military strength and improved the chances for peace and freedom in many parts of the world. This year, 1952, is a critical year in the defence effort of the whole free world. If we falter we can lose all the gains we have made. If we drive ahead, with courage and vigour and determination, we can, by the end of 1952, be in a position of much greater security…
Peace depends upon the free nations sticking together, and making a combined effort to check aggression and prevent war. In this respect, 1951 was a year of great achievement. In Korea, the forces of the United Nations turned hack the Chinese communist invasion and did it without widening the area of conflict. The action of the United Nations in Korea has been a powerful deterrent to a third world war – however, the situation in Korea remains very hazardous. The outcome of the armistice negotiation still remains uncertain.
In Indochina and Malaya, our aid has helped our allies to hold back the Communist advance, although there are signs of further trouble in that area. In 1951 we strengthened the chances of peace in the Pacific region by the treaties with Japan and the defence arrangements with Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
In Europe combined defence has become a reality. The free nations have created a real fighting force. This force is not yet as strong as it needs to be but it is already a real obstacle to any attempt by hostile forces to sweep across Europe to the Atlantic. In 1951 we also moved to strengthen the security of Europe by the agreement to bring Greece and Turkey into the North Atlantic Treaty.
The United Nations, the world’s greatest hope for peace, has come through a year of trial stronger and more useful than ever. The free nations have stood together in blocking Communist attempts to tear up the charter. At the present session of the United Nations in Paris we, together with the British and the French, offered a plan to reduce and control all armaments under a foolproof inspection system. This is a concrete, practical proposal for disarmament. But what happened? [Soviet foreign minister] Vishinsky laughed at it…
During this past year, we added more than a million men and women to our Armed Forces. The total is now nearly three million. We have made rapid progress in the field of atomic weapons. We have turned out billion worth of military supplies and equipment, three times as much as the year before…
During 1951 we did not make adequate progress in building up civil defence against atomic attack. This is a major weakness in our plans for peace, since inadequate civilian defence is an open invitation to a surprise attack. Failure to provide adequate civilian defence has the same effect as adding to the enemy’s supply of atomic bombs.
In the field of defence production, we have run into difficulties and delays in designing and producing the latest types of aeroplanes and tanks. Some machine tools and metals are still in extremely short supply. In other free countries, the defence buildup has created severe economic problems. It has increased inflation in Europe and has endangered the continued recovery of our allies. In the Middle East political tensions and the oil controversy in Iran are keeping the region in a turmoil. In the Far East, the dark threat of Communist imperialism still hangs over many nations.
This, very briefly, is the good side and the bad side of the picture.
Taking the good and bad together, we have made real progress this last year along the road to peace. We have increased the power and unity of the free world. And while we were doing this, we have avoided world war on the one hand, and appeasement on the other. This is a hard road to follow, but the events of the last year show that it is the right road to peace.
We cannot expect to complete the job overnight. The free nations may have to maintain for years the larger military forces needed to deter aggression. We must build steadily, over a period of years, toward political solidarity and economic progress among the free nations in all parts of the world.
Our task will not be easy – but if we go at it with a will, we can look forward to steady progress. On our side are all the great resources of freedom: the ideals of religion and democracy, the aspiration of people for a better life, and the industrial and technical power of a free civilisation.
These advantages outweigh anything the slave world can produce. The only thing that can defeat us is our own state of mind. We can lose if we falter…
Let us prove, again, that we are not merely sunshine patriots and summer soldiers. Let us go forward, trusting in the God of Peace, to win the goals we seek.”