1988 State of the Union Address

Speech by US President Ronald Reagan February 2026 July 2021 1988 State of the Union Address State of the Union- President Reagan's State of the Union Speech - 1-25-88.webm Full video of the speech as published by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library 9:00 p.m. EST 44 minutes 1988 01 25 House Chamber, United States Capitol Washington, D.C. 38 53 23 N 77 00 32 W region:US-DC_type:event inline,title State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Jim Wright Previous 1987 State of the Union Address Next 1989 Joint session speech The 1988 State of the Union Address was given by the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, on January 25, 1988, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 100th United States Congress. It was Reagan's seventh and final State of the Union Address and his eighth and final speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Jim Wright, accompanied by George H. W. Bush, the vice president in his capacity as the president of the Senate. Donald Hodel, the Secretary of the Interior, served as the designated survivor.New York Times, "State of Union: Bewitched by Pageant." Page A18. Jan 27, 1988 Summary President Reagan began by announcing that his speech would not be a litany of achievements over the past seven years of his administration, but that he would continue to propose policy initiatives. He outlined the following objectives: Keep the economy strong and growing Review the state of social programs Continue spreading democracy around the world Maintain a strong defense Reagan discussed the federal deficit, the size of the federal budget, abortion, crime, drugs, the line-item veto, foreign relations and the Soviet–Afghan War. He famously summarized the effect of government intervention on the poor:Issues for Debate in Social Policy: Selections From CQ Researcher Cq Researcher 2009 SAGE Publications 9781412979412 https://books.google.com/books?id=xiEI-7Udd1AC 165 2015-01-01 Some years ago the federal government declared War on Poverty, and poverty won. Today the federal government has 59 major welfare programs and spends more than $100 billion a year on them. What has all this money done? Well, too often it has made poverty harder to escape. Federal welfare programs have created a massive social problem. With the best of intentions, government created a poverty trap that wreaks havoc on the very support system the poor need most to lift themselves out of poverty: the family. In closing he returned to his vision of America as a city on a hill: "We can be proud ... that another generation of Americans has protected and passed on lovingly this place called America, this shining city on a hill, this government of, by, and for the people." The speech lasted approximately 44 minutes and consisted of 4,955 words.http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou_minutes.php Length of State of the Union Addresses in Minutes presidency.ucsb.edu 2015-01-01 The address was broadcast live on radio and television. Opposition response The Democratic Party response was delivered by Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Speaker of the House Jim Wright of Texas.http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou_response.php List of Opposition Responses to State of the Union Addresses presidency.ucsb.edu 2015-01-01 See also Speeches and debates of Ronald Reagan 1988 United States presidential election References 2 External links Ronald Reagan's Eighth State of the Union Address 1988 State of the Union Address (full transcript), The American Presidency Project, UC Santa Barbara. 1988 State of the Union Address (video) at C-SPAN 1988 State of the Union Response (video) at C-SPAN Full video and audio, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. 1987 State of the Union Address 1989 joint session speech State of the Union addresses 1 1988 State of the Union Address 1988 State of the Union Address State of the Union Address State of the Union Address State of the Union Address State of the Union Address Category:Presidency of Ronald Reagan Category:Speeches by Ronald Reagan Category:Articles containing video clips Category:1980s State of the Union addresses