State of Union: Ike Tells Hopes for World Peace.
State of Union: Ike Tells Hopes for World Peace.
Video quality is distorted throughout. Audio seems fine. State of Union: Ike Tells Hopes for World Peace. President Dwight D. Eisenhower addresses the joint houses of Congress, telling of his hopes for peace, reviewing the status of America's defenses, and calling for continued effort against inflation in a dramatic state of the union message. Ike walks in amid applause. Delivers message (nat sound), Richard Nixon (as V.P.) sitting behind him. Eisenhower mentions the possibility of mutual annihilation (mutually assured destruction) as very significant fact of the times. "First I point out that for us, annual self-examination is made a necessity by the fact that we live in a divided world of uneasy equilibrium, with our side committed to its own protection and against aggression by the other." (Applause is heard.) "With both sections of this divided world in possession of unbelievably destructive weapons, mankind approaches a state where mutual annihilation becomes a possibility. No other fact of today's world equals this in importance. It colors everything we say, everything we plan and everything we do. There is demanded of us vigilance, determination, and the dedication of whatever portion of our resources may be needed to provide adequate security, especially to provide a real deterrent to aggression. These things we are doing. And these facts emphasize the importance of striving incessantly for a just peace. Only through the strengthening of the spiritual, intellectual, economic, and defensive resources of the free world, can we in confidence make progress toward this goal."