The video that accompanies this notebook is available at https://ucdavis.box.com/v/sts-205-notebook-1.
In this class, we will be working with R Markdown Notebooks. Notebooks are great for literate programming and reproducible research because they allow you to readily combine chunks of human-readable text (that’s what this is) with chunks of machine-readable code. The area just below this is an empty code block. You can insert an empty code block anywhere in a notebook either by typing the backticks manually or with the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Opt+i. You can run a code chunk by pressing the “play” button in the upper right of the code chunk, or by highlighting the code and uisng the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Ent. To run just a single line of code, make sure your cursor is somewhere on that line and hit Cmd+Ent. The human-readable chunks are formatted in markdown, which is a very lightweight markup language. The Markdown Guide offers a great quick-start guide to markdown. You will see the effects of the markup when you click the Preview button above (be sure to save any unsaved changes first).
There is a convention in programming that the first thing you do when learning a new language is write code that prints the phrase “hello world” to the console. In R, this is exceedingly easy. Run the code block below.
"hello world"[1] "hello world"As you can see, simply typing text in quotation marks and hitting the “play” button prints that text to the console. This is because R’s default is the print() function. The same thing happens when we call the print() function explicitly. Note that print() is the name of the function and "hello world" is the function’s arguments.
print("hello world")[1] "hello world"In this course, we will be working with text: reading text, manipulating text, and writing text (and other things). Most of the time, we will be reading texts from files on our computers and writing text to files on our computers. Let’s start by writing “hello world” to a new file called hello.txt. We can do that with the write() function. The write() function takes two argument: the text that you want to write and the name of the file that you want to write it to.
write("hello world", "hello.txt")When you run this code. you can see that a new file called hello.txt appears in your working directory. We can bring this text back into R with the readLines() function, which takes as an argument the name of the file we want to read.
readLines("hello.txt")[1] "hello world"The readLines() function reads a text file, converting it into a vector where each line of the file is an element of the vector. We can see this more clearly when reading the fruits.txt file.
readLines("fruits.txt") [1] "apple" "apricot" "avocado" "banana" "blackberry"
[6] "blueberry" "cantaloupe" "cherry" "cranberry" "date"
[11] "fig" "grapefruit" "grape" "guava" "honeydew"
[16] "kiwi" "kumquat" "lemon" "lime" "mango"
[21] "nectarine" "orange" "papaya" "peach" "pear"
[26] "persimmon" "pineapple" "plantain" "plum" "pomegranate"
[31] "raspberry" "strawberry" "tangerine" "watermelon" If you open the file, you will see that each fruit is on a separate line. R converts these lines into elements of a vector. We can tell that each fruit is a separate element because each one is in its own set of quotation marks. In contrast “hello world” was encased in a single set of quotation marks, indicating that R is treating it as a single text string, or a vector with only one element. R treats everything as a vector, so a single text string or a single number is really a vector of length one.
If we want to manipulate our fruit vector further, we can save it to working memory by assigning it to a variable. You can create a variable simply by typing its name (in this case fruits) and assigning it a value (in this case, the result of readLines("fruits.txt")). The assignment operator (<-) attaches the value to the variable name.
fruits <- readLines("fruits.txt")Notice that when you run the above code block, nothing happens. But the new variable appears in the Global Environment window and you can see its value when you enter its name.
fruits [1] "apple" "apricot" "avocado" "banana" "blackberry"
[6] "blueberry" "cantaloupe" "cherry" "cranberry" "date"
[11] "fig" "grapefruit" "grape" "guava" "honeydew"
[16] "kiwi" "kumquat" "lemon" "lime" "mango"
[21] "nectarine" "orange" "papaya" "peach" "pear"
[26] "persimmon" "pineapple" "plantain" "plum" "pomegranate"
[31] "raspberry" "strawberry" "tangerine" "watermelon" typeof(fruits)[1] "character"We can access specific element(s) of a vector by their index number. The following returns the fifth element of the fruits vector.
fruits[5][1] "blackberry"The following returns elements 6-9. Note that this is also a vector.
fruits[6:9][1] "blueberry" "cantaloupe" "cherry" "cranberry" fruits[c(1, 3, 7, 10)][1] "apple" "avocado" "cantaloupe" "date" You can see how many elements a vector has with the length() function.
length(fruits)[1] 34You can use the length() function to return the last element of a vector, even if you don’t know how many elements there are.
fruits[length(fruits)][1] "watermelon"The nchar() function returns the length of an individual string. This will tell me how many letters are in the word “watermelon”.
nchar("watermelon")[1] 10This will tell me how many letters are in each element of the fruits vector.
nchar(fruits) [1] 5 7 7 6 10 9 10 6 9 4 3 10 5 5 8 4 7 5 4 5 9 6 6 5 4 9
[27] 9 8 4 11 9 10 9 10We can manipulate text data with string functions. The following exercises give you a sense of some of the available string functions and how they work. They come from the stringr package, so you will need to install and load the package before proceeding.
#install.packages("stringr")
library(stringr)The first set of string functions we will use detect matches within strings. These functions are: str_detect(), str_which(), str_subset(), and str_count(). In each of these functions, the first argument is the string you are looking in and the second argument is the pattern you are looking for.
For example, let’s say we are interested in the fruits that are berries. The code below asks whether the string “strawberry” contains the pattern “berry”. This is a trivial example, but it shows how the function works. You can substitute a non-berry fruit for “strawberry” to see what happens if the pattern is not found.
str_detect("strawberry", "berry")[1] TRUEThe str_detect() function returned a logical value indicating that the string “strawberry” does contain the pattern “berry”. If we substitute the fruits vector for “strawberry”, the function returns a logical vector that indicates whether each element of the fruits vector includes the string “berry”. Note that fruits is the string we are examining and “berry” is the pattern we are looking for.
str_detect(fruits, "berry") [1] FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE
[14] FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE
[27] FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSEAs you can see, elements 1-4 are not berries, 5-6 are berries (blackberry, blueberry), 7-8 are not berries, and so on. We can use this logical vector to return a vector of all of the berries in the original fruit vector.
fruits[str_detect(fruits, "berry")][1] "blackberry" "blueberry" "cranberry" "raspberry" "strawberry"What we have done here is used square brackets to ask for a subset of the fruits vector. The content of the square brackets is the logical vector indicating which of the fruits are berries, so we only get those with a value of TRUE.
The str_which() function returns the indexes of the fruits that are berries.
str_which(fruits, "berry")[1] 5 6 9 31 32We can also use this function to create a subvector of berries.
fruits[str_which(fruits, "berry")][1] "blackberry" "blueberry" "cranberry" "raspberry" "strawberry"This time, the content of the square brackets is the vector of values that are berries fruits[c(5, 6, 9, 31, 32)].
The str_subset() function does this in one step.
str_subset(fruits, "berry")[1] "blackberry" "blueberry" "cranberry" "raspberry" "strawberry"We can also count the number of times the word “berry” appears in each element of the vector of fruits.
str_count(fruits, "berry") [1] 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0Here, each element refers to the corresponding element of the fruits vector. Its value refers to the number of times the word “berry” appears in the name of each fruit. As we expect, no fruit includes the word “berry” more than once. For that reason, we can sum this vector to get the total number of berries in our fruit vector
sum(str_count(fruits, "berry"))[1] 5We could have calculated this from our other functions as well.
length(str_subset(fruits, "berry"))[1] 5length(str_which(fruits, "berry"))[1] 5sum(str_detect(fruits, "berry"))[1] 5Remember that the length() function returns the number of elements in a vector. When you sum() a logical vector, values of FALSE become zero and values of TRUE become one, which is why we get the same value when we sum the result of the str_detect() function as when we summed the result of the str_count() function (in this case).
In these examples, we were looking for the pattern “berry” anywhere in the name of a fruit. We can use regular expressions for pattern matching that is both more specific and more general. For example, if we only want fruits that end with the pattern “berry”, we would do this:
str_which(fruits, "berry$")[1] 5 6 9 31 32Now, instead of looking for “berry” anywhere in the word, we are looking for “berry” right at the end of the word. If we wanted to find fruits that end with a vowel, we would do this:
str_which(fruits, "[aeiou]$") [1] 1 3 4 7 10 13 14 16 19 20 21 22 23 27 30 33str_subset(fruits, "[aeiou]$") [1] "apple" "avocado" "banana" "cantaloupe" "date"
[6] "grape" "guava" "kiwi" "lime" "mango"
[11] "nectarine" "orange" "papaya" "pineapple" "pomegranate"
[16] "tangerine" There are many more things you can do with regular expressions. The second page of the stringr cheat sheet is a good quick reference. Note that I used the str_which() function in the examples above, but all stringr functions support regular expressions.
The next set of string functions pulls out parts of strings. The str_sub() function allows you to use indices to select the same part of each string in the vector.
str_sub(fruits, 1, 4) #First four letters [1] "appl" "apri" "avoc" "bana" "blac" "blue" "cant" "cher" "cran" "date" "fig"
[12] "grap" "grap" "guav" "hone" "kiwi" "kumq" "lemo" "lime" "mang" "nect" "oran"
[23] "papa" "peac" "pear" "pers" "pine" "plan" "plum" "pome" "rasp" "stra" "tang"
[34] "wate"str_sub(fruits, 5, nchar(fruits)) #From letter five to the end of the word [1] "e" "cot" "ado" "na" "kberry" "berry" "aloupe" "ry"
[9] "berry" "" "" "efruit" "e" "a" "ydew" ""
[17] "uat" "n" "" "o" "arine" "ge" "ya" "h"
[25] "" "immon" "apple" "tain" "" "granate" "berry" "wberry"
[33] "erine" "rmelon" str_sub(fruits, -4) #Last four letters [1] "pple" "icot" "cado" "nana" "erry" "erry" "oupe" "erry" "erry" "date" "fig"
[12] "ruit" "rape" "uava" "ydew" "kiwi" "quat" "emon" "lime" "ango" "rine" "ange"
[23] "paya" "each" "pear" "mmon" "pple" "tain" "plum" "nate" "erry" "erry" "rine"
[34] "elon"Note that we have not actually changed the fruits vector. Each of these functions returned a vector of substrings, but we have not saved those substrings anywhere. If we want to save any of the substrings, we can do that by assigning the value to a new variable. Note that there is no output when I run the code below because I saved the result.
fruits_first_four <- str_sub(fruits, 1, 4)
fruits_first_four [1] "appl" "apri" "avoc" "bana" "blac" "blue" "cant" "cher" "cran" "date" "fig"
[12] "grap" "grap" "guav" "hone" "kiwi" "kumq" "lemo" "lime" "mang" "nect" "oran"
[23] "papa" "peac" "pear" "pers" "pine" "plan" "plum" "pome" "rasp" "stra" "tang"
[34] "wate"We can also pull out a pattern from a vector of strings with str_extract(). Note that I could have used a regular expression here as well.
str_extract(fruits, "berry") [1] NA NA NA NA "berry" "berry" NA NA "berry" NA
[11] NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
[21] NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
[31] "berry" "berry" NA NA The result is a character vector with value NA for the fruits that are not berries and “berry” for the fruits that are berries.
The next set of string functions deals with the length of a string. Earlier, you saw the function nchar(), which returns the number of characters in a string. The nchar() function is from base R. The stringr equivalent is str_length().
nchar(fruits) [1] 5 7 7 6 10 9 10 6 9 4 3 10 5 5 8 4 7 5 4 5 9 6 6 5 4 9
[27] 9 8 4 11 9 10 9 10str_length(fruits) [1] 5 7 7 6 10 9 10 6 9 4 3 10 5 5 8 4 7 5 4 5 9 6 6 5 4 9
[27] 9 8 4 11 9 10 9 10Let’s say we want a new vector of fruits, called fruit_uniform, where all elements are the same length. We can do that with the str_pad() function. This function takes the original vector as its first argument, and the number of characters you want as the second argument. Since we already used the str_length() function, we know that the longest fruit is pomegranate, with eleven characters, so we can simply enter 11 as the second argument.
fruit_uniform <- str_pad(fruits, 11)
str_length(fruit_uniform) [1] 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11
[27] 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11But what if we didn’t know the length of the longest element? We can use max(str_length(fruits)) or max(nchar(fruits)) as the second argument to str_pad().
fruit_uniform <- str_pad(fruits, max(str_length(fruits)))
str_length(fruit_uniform) [1] 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11
[27] 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11What does this vector look like?
fruit_uniform [1] " apple" " apricot" " avocado" " banana" " blackberry"
[6] " blueberry" " cantaloupe" " cherry" " cranberry" " date"
[11] " fig" " grapefruit" " grape" " guava" " honeydew"
[16] " kiwi" " kumquat" " lemon" " lime" " mango"
[21] " nectarine" " orange" " papaya" " peach" " pear"
[26] " persimmon" " pineapple" " plantain" " plum" "pomegranate"
[31] " raspberry" " strawberry" " tangerine" " watermelon"As you can see, the str_pad() function pads by inserting white space at the beginning of each element. We can get rid of this white space with the str_trim() function.
str_trim(fruit_uniform) [1] "apple" "apricot" "avocado" "banana" "blackberry"
[6] "blueberry" "cantaloupe" "cherry" "cranberry" "date"
[11] "fig" "grapefruit" "grape" "guava" "honeydew"
[16] "kiwi" "kumquat" "lemon" "lime" "mango"
[21] "nectarine" "orange" "papaya" "peach" "pear"
[26] "persimmon" "pineapple" "plantain" "plum" "pomegranate"
[31] "raspberry" "strawberry" "tangerine" "watermelon" Note that this did not change the fruit_uniform vector; it simply returned a transformation of it.
You can also make the elements uniform length by truncating them. The str_trunc() function allows you to specify the length of each element and replaces the letters it removes with ellipses. These count as three characters (one for each period), so you will not want to choose a length of less than four.
str_trunc(fruits, 5) [1] "apple" "ap..." "av..." "ba..." "bl..." "bl..." "ca..." "ch..." "cr..." "date"
[11] "fig" "gr..." "grape" "guava" "ho..." "kiwi" "ku..." "lemon" "lime" "mango"
[21] "ne..." "or..." "pa..." "peach" "pear" "pe..." "pi..." "pl..." "plum" "po..."
[31] "ra..." "st..." "ta..." "wa..."The next set of string functions replaces text within strings. You can use the str_sub() function to replace the same letters in each element of a text vector. Here I am replacing the first four letters of each fruit with two dashes. Be careful with this function because it actually changes the vector itself.
str_sub(fruits, 1, 4) <- "--"
fruits [1] "--e" "--cot" "--ado" "--na" "--kberry" "--berry"
[7] "--aloupe" "--ry" "--berry" "--" "--" "--efruit"
[13] "--e" "--a" "--ydew" "--" "--uat" "--n"
[19] "--" "--o" "--arine" "--ge" "--ya" "--h"
[25] "--" "--immon" "--apple" "--tain" "--" "--granate"
[31] "--berry" "--wberry" "--erine" "--rmelon" Fortunately, we saved the first four letters of each fruit earlier (fruits_first_four), so we can replace our dashes with the missing letters.
str_sub(fruits, 1, 2) <- fruits_first_four
fruits [1] "apple" "apricot" "avocado" "banana" "blackberry"
[6] "blueberry" "cantaloupe" "cherry" "cranberry" "date"
[11] "fig" "grapefruit" "grape" "guava" "honeydew"
[16] "kiwi" "kumquat" "lemon" "lime" "mango"
[21] "nectarine" "orange" "papaya" "peach" "pear"
[26] "persimmon" "pineapple" "plantain" "plum" "pomegranate"
[31] "raspberry" "strawberry" "tangerine" "watermelon" Now let’s work with vegetables. We got our fruits vector from a text file, but we can also create string (or numeric) vectors directly in R with the c() function.
vegetables <- c("artichoke", "arugula", "asparagus", "beet", "bell pepper", "bok choy", "broccoli", "Brussels sprout", "cabbage", "carrot", "cauliflower", "celery", "collard greens", "cucumber", "eggplant", "fennel", "green beens", "jicama", "kale", "kohlrabi", "leek", "lettuce", "mushroom", "okra", "onion", "parsnip", "peas", "potato", "pumpkin", "radish", "shallot", "snow peas", "spinach", "squash", "tomato", "turnip", "zucchini")
vegetables [1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell pepper" "bok choy" "broccoli" "Brussels sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" Note that there is no output when you run the code above because you are simply creating a new variable, which is a string vector called vegetables.
There are several two-word vegetables in our vector. We can use the str_replace() function to replace the spaces with underscores (or anything else). The first argument of the function is the string where the replacing is happening, the second argument is the text to be replaced, and the third argument is what you want to replace it with.
str_replace(vegetables, " ", "_") [1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell_pepper" "bok_choy" "broccoli" "Brussels_sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard_greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green_beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow_peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" If any of our vegetables had had more than one space, we would have needed to use str_replace_all() instead of str_replace() because str_replace() only replaces the first match.
Another form of replacement is changing case:
vegetables_up <- str_to_upper(vegetables)
vegetables_up [1] "ARTICHOKE" "ARUGULA" "ASPARAGUS" "BEET"
[5] "BELL PEPPER" "BOK CHOY" "BROCCOLI" "BRUSSELS SPROUT"
[9] "CABBAGE" "CARROT" "CAULIFLOWER" "CELERY"
[13] "COLLARD GREENS" "CUCUMBER" "EGGPLANT" "FENNEL"
[17] "GREEN BEENS" "JICAMA" "KALE" "KOHLRABI"
[21] "LEEK" "LETTUCE" "MUSHROOM" "OKRA"
[25] "ONION" "PARSNIP" "PEAS" "POTATO"
[29] "PUMPKIN" "RADISH" "SHALLOT" "SNOW PEAS"
[33] "SPINACH" "SQUASH" "TOMATO" "TURNIP"
[37] "ZUCCHINI" str_to_lower(vegetables_up) [1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell pepper" "bok choy" "broccoli" "brussels sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" str_to_title(vegetables) [1] "Artichoke" "Arugula" "Asparagus" "Beet"
[5] "Bell Pepper" "Bok Choy" "Broccoli" "Brussels Sprout"
[9] "Cabbage" "Carrot" "Cauliflower" "Celery"
[13] "Collard Greens" "Cucumber" "Eggplant" "Fennel"
[17] "Green Beens" "Jicama" "Kale" "Kohlrabi"
[21] "Leek" "Lettuce" "Mushroom" "Okra"
[25] "Onion" "Parsnip" "Peas" "Potato"
[29] "Pumpkin" "Radish" "Shallot" "Snow Peas"
[33] "Spinach" "Squash" "Tomato" "Turnip"
[37] "Zucchini" If we wanted to turn our vector of vegetables into a single comma-separated shopping list, we would use the str_c() function. The collapse = argument allows you to specify how you want the elements of the vector to be joined. Note that I needed to specify a space after the comma. I’m going to save the result as all_veg.
all_veg <- str_c(vegetables, collapse = ", ")
all_veg[1] "artichoke, arugula, asparagus, beet, bell pepper, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprout, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, cucumber, eggplant, fennel, green beens, jicama, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mushroom, okra, onion, parsnip, peas, potato, pumpkin, radish, shallot, snow peas, spinach, squash, tomato, turnip, zucchini"I can get back to the original vector using the str_split() function and specifying where I want to split the string (in this case, on the comma + space).
str_split(all_veg, ", ")[[1]]
[1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell pepper" "bok choy" "broccoli" "Brussels sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" Note that the str_split() function returns a list rather than a vector, so if I want the original vector, I need to specify that I only want the first element of the list.
str_split(all_veg, ", ")[[1]] [1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell pepper" "bok choy" "broccoli" "Brussels sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" Alternatively, I can nest the str_split() function inside the unlist() function. Note that when nesting functions, the innermost one is done first.
unlist(str_split(all_veg, ", ")) [1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell pepper" "bok choy" "broccoli" "Brussels sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" If you wanted a single string of vegetables without commas (just separated by spaces), but with two-word vegetables joined by underscores, you would nest str_replace() inside str_c().
str_c(str_replace(vegetables, " ", "_"), collapse = " ")[1] "artichoke arugula asparagus beet bell_pepper bok_choy broccoli Brussels_sprout cabbage carrot cauliflower celery collard_greens cucumber eggplant fennel green_beens jicama kale kohlrabi leek lettuce mushroom okra onion parsnip peas potato pumpkin radish shallot snow_peas spinach squash tomato turnip zucchini"We can write this long string of vegetables to a new file:
write(str_c(str_replace(vegetables, " ", "_"), collapse = " "), "vegetables.txt")What happens when we read this back in to R?
readLines("vegetables.txt")[1] "artichoke arugula asparagus beet bell_pepper bok_choy broccoli Brussels_sprout cabbage carrot cauliflower celery collard_greens cucumber eggplant fennel green_beens jicama kale kohlrabi leek lettuce mushroom okra onion parsnip peas potato pumpkin radish shallot snow_peas spinach squash tomato turnip zucchini"We get the same thing we wrote out, which is a single-element vector containing all of our vegetables separated by spaces. How do we get back to the same vegetable vector we initially created?
str_replace(unlist(str_split(readLines("vegetables.txt"), " ")), "_", " ") [1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell pepper" "bok choy" "broccoli" "Brussels sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" When we nest a lot of functions, it can become difficult to keep track of what is happening. The tidyverse package provides a lot of tools that we will use in this course, including the pipe (%>%), which eliminate the need for nesting. Install and load tidyverse.
#install.packages("tidyverse")
library(tidyverse)Registered S3 methods overwritten by 'dbplyr':
method from
print.tbl_lazy
print.tbl_sql
── Attaching packages ─────────────────────────────────────────── tidyverse 1.3.0 ──
✓ ggplot2 3.3.3 ✓ purrr 0.3.4
✓ tibble 3.0.6 ✓ dplyr 1.0.4
✓ tidyr 1.1.2 ✓ forcats 0.5.0
✓ readr 1.4.0
── Conflicts ────────────────────────────────────────────── tidyverse_conflicts() ──
x dplyr::filter() masks stats::filter()
x dplyr::lag() masks stats::lag()The pipe lets us build functions sequentially so that the output of one function becomes the first argument (input) for the next function.
readLines("vegetables.txt") %>% str_split(" ") %>% unlist() %>% str_replace("_", " ") [1] "artichoke" "arugula" "asparagus" "beet"
[5] "bell pepper" "bok choy" "broccoli" "Brussels sprout"
[9] "cabbage" "carrot" "cauliflower" "celery"
[13] "collard greens" "cucumber" "eggplant" "fennel"
[17] "green beens" "jicama" "kale" "kohlrabi"
[21] "leek" "lettuce" "mushroom" "okra"
[25] "onion" "parsnip" "peas" "potato"
[29] "pumpkin" "radish" "shallot" "snow peas"
[33] "spinach" "squash" "tomato" "turnip"
[37] "zucchini" Now let’s look at some real text. The file stateoftheunion1790-2019.txt contains all of the State of the Union Addresses given by U.S. presidents through 2019. What happens when we use the readLines() function?
readLines("stateoftheunion1790-2019.txt") [1] "State of the Union Address"
[2] "George Washington"
[3] "January 8, 1790"
[4] "<p>"
[5] "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[6] "<p>"
[7] "I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity which now presents itself"
[8] "of congratulating you on the present favorable prospects of our public"
[9] "affairs. The recent accession of the important state of North Carolina to"
[10] "the Constitution of the United States (of which official information has"
[11] "been received), the rising credit and respectability of our country, the"
[12] "general and increasing good will toward the government of the Union, and"
[13] "the concord, peace, and plenty with which we are blessed are circumstances"
[14] "auspicious in an eminent degree to our national prosperity."
[15] "<p>"
[16] "In resuming your consultations for the general good you can not but derive"
[17] "encouragement from the reflection that the measures of the last session"
[18] "have been as satisfactory to your constituents as the novelty and"
[19] "difficulty of the work allowed you to hope. Still further to realize their"
[20] "expectations and to secure the blessings which a gracious Providence has"
[21] "placed within our reach will in the course of the present important session"
[22] "call for the cool and deliberate exertion of your patriotism, firmness, and"
[23] "wisdom."
[24] "<p>"
[25] "Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of"
[26] "providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be"
[27] "prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."
[28] "<p>"
[29] "A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a"
[30] "uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest"
[31] "require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them"
[32] "independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies."
[33] "<p>"
[34] "The proper establishment of the troops which may be deemed indispensable"
[35] "will be entitled to mature consideration. In the arrangements which may be"
[36] "made respecting it it will be of importance to conciliate the comfortable"
[37] "support of the officers and soldiers with a due regard to economy."
[38] "<p>"
[39] "There was reason to hope that the pacific measures adopted with regard to"
[40] "certain hostile tribes of Indians would have relieved the inhabitants of"
[41] "our southern and western frontiers from their depredations, but you will"
[42] "perceive from the information contained in the papers which I shall direct"
[43] "to be laid before you (comprehending a communication from the Commonwealth"
[44] "of Virginia) that we ought to be prepared to afford protection to those"
[45] "parts of the Union, and, if necessary, to punish aggressors."
[46] "<p>"
[47] "The interests of the United States require that our intercourse with other"
[48] "nations should be facilitated by such provisions as will enable me to"
[49] "fulfill my duty in that respect in the manner which circumstances may"
[50] "render most conducive to the public good, and to this end that the"
[51] "compensation to be made to the persons who may be employed should,"
[52] "according to the nature of their appointments, be defined by law, and a"
[53] "competent fund designated for defraying the expenses incident to the"
[54] "conduct of foreign affairs."
[55] "<p>"
[56] "Various considerations also render it expedient that the terms on which"
[57] "foreigners may be admitted to the rights of citizens should be speedily"
[58] "ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization."
[59] "<p>"
[60] "Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is"
[61] "an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended"
[62] "to."
[63] "<p>"
[64] "The advancement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures by all proper"
[65] "means will not, I trust, need recommendation; but I can not forbear"
[66] "intimating to you the expediency of giving effectual encouragement as well"
[67] "to the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad as to the"
[68] "exertions of skill and genius in producing them at home, and of"
[69] "facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our country by a"
[70] "due attention to the post-office and post-roads."
[71] "<p>"
[72] "Nor am I less persuaded that you will agree with me in opinion that there"
[73] "is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of"
[74] "science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of"
[75] "public happiness. In one in which the measures of government receive their"
[76] "impressions so immediately from the sense of the community as in ours it is"
[77] "proportionably essential."
[78] "<p>"
[79] "To the security of a free constitution it contributes in various ways--by"
[80] "convincing those who are intrusted with the public administration that"
[81] "every valuable end of government is best answered by the enlightened"
[82] "confidence of the people, and by teaching the people themselves to know and"
[83] "to value their own rights; to discern and provide against invasions of"
[84] "them; to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of"
[85] "lawful authority; between burthens proceeding from a disregard to their"
[86] "convenience and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of society;"
[87] "to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness--"
[88] "cherishing the first, avoiding the last--and uniting a speedy but"
[89] "temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable respect to"
[90] "the laws."
[91] "<p>"
[92] "Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by affording aids to"
[93] "seminaries of learning already established, by the institution of a"
[94] "national university, or by any other expedients will be well worthy of a"
[95] "place in the deliberations of the legislature."
[96] "<p>"
[97] "Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:"
[98] "<p>"
[99] "I saw with peculiar pleasure at the close of the last session the"
[100] "resolution entered into by you expressive of your opinion that an adequate"
[101] "provision for the support of the public credit is a matter of high"
[102] "importance to the national honor and prosperity. In this sentiment I"
[103] "entirely concur; and to a perfect confidence in your best endeavors to"
[104] "devise such a provision as will be truly with the end I add an equal"
[105] "reliance on the cheerful cooperation of the other branch of the"
[106] "legislature."
[107] "<p>"
[108] "It would be superfluous to specify inducements to a measure in which the"
[109] "character and interests of the United States are so obviously so deeply"
[110] "concerned, and which has received so explicit a sanction from your"
[111] "declaration."
[112] "<p>"
[113] "Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[114] "<p>"
[115] "I have directed the proper officers to lay before you, respectively, such"
[116] "papers and estimates as regard the affairs particularly recommended to your"
[117] "consideration, and necessary to convey to you that information of the state"
[118] "of the Union which it is my duty to afford."
[119] "<p>"
[120] "The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and"
[121] "efforts ought to be directed, and I shall derive great satisfaction from a"
[122] "cooperation with you in the pleasing though arduous task of insuring to our"
[123] "fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect from a"
[124] "free, efficient, and equal government."
[125] "***"
[126] "State of the Union Address"
[127] "George Washington"
[128] "December 8, 1790"
[129] "<p>"
[130] "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[131] "<p>"
[132] "In meeting you again I feel much satisfaction in being able to repeat my"
[133] "congratulations on the favorable prospects which continue to distinguish"
[134] "our public affairs. The abundant fruits of another year have blessed our"
[135] "country with plenty and with the means of a flourishing commerce."
[136] "<p>"
[137] "The progress of public credit is witnessed by a considerable rise of"
[138] "American stock abroad as well as at home, and the revenues allotted for"
[139] "this and other national purposes have been productive beyond the"
[140] "calculations by which they were regulated. This latter circumstance is the"
[141] "more pleasing, as it is not only a proof of the fertility of our resources,"
[142] "but as it assures us of a further increase of the national respectability"
[143] "and credit, and, let me add, as it bears an honorable testimony to the"
[144] "patriotism and integrity of the mercantile and marine part of our citizens."
[145] "The punctuality of the former in discharging their engagements has been"
[146] "exemplary."
[147] "<p>"
[148] "In conformity to the powers vested in me by acts of the last session, a"
[149] "loan of 3,000,000 florins, toward which some provisional measures had"
[150] "previously taken place, has been completed in Holland. As well the celerity"
[151] "with which it has been filled as the nature of the terms (considering the"
[152] "more than ordinary demand for borrowing created by the situation of Europe)"
[153] "give a reasonable hope that the further execution of those powers may"
[154] "proceed with advantage and success. The Secretary of the Treasury has my"
[155] "directions to communicate such further particulars as may be requisite for"
[156] "more precise information."
[157] "<p>"
[158] "Since your last sessions I have received communications by which it appears"
[159] "that the district of Kentucky, at present a part of Virginia, has concurred"
[160] "in certain propositions contained in a law of that State, in consequence of"
[161] "which the district is to become a distinct member of the Union, in case the"
[162] "requisite sanction of Congress be added. For this sanction application is"
[163] "now made. I shall cause the papers on this very transaction to be laid"
[164] "before you."
[165] "<p>"
[166] "The liberality and harmony with which it has been conducted will be found"
[167] "to do great honor to both the parties, and the sentiments of warm"
[168] "attachment to the Union and its present Government expressed by our fellow"
[169] "citizens of Kentucky can not fail to add an affectionate concern for their"
[170] "particular welfare to the great national impressions under which you will"
[171] "decide on the case submitted to you."
[172] "<p>"
[173] "It has been heretofore known to Congress that frequent incursions have been"
[174] "made on our frontier settlements by certain banditti of Indians from the"
[175] "northwest side of the Ohio. These, with some of the tribes dwelling on and"
[176] "near the Wabash, have of late been particularly active in their"
[177] "depredations, and being emboldened by the impunity of their crimes and"
[178] "aided by such parts of the neighboring tribes as could be seduced to join"
[179] "in their hostilities or afford them a retreat for their prisoners and"
[180] "plunder, they have, instead of listening to the humane invitations and"
[181] "overtures made on the part of the United States, renewed their violences"
[182] "with fresh alacrity and greater effect. The lives of a number of valuable"
[183] "citizens have thus been sacrificed, and some of them under circumstances"
[184] "peculiarly shocking, whilst others have been carried into a deplorable"
[185] "captivity."
[186] "<p>"
[187] "These aggravated provocations rendered it essential to the safety of the"
[188] "Western settlements that the aggressors should be made sensible that the"
[189] "Government of the Union is not less capable of punishing their crimes than"
[190] "it is disposed to respect their rights and reward their attachments. As"
[191] "this object could not be effected by defensive measures, it became"
[192] "necessary to put in force the act which empowers the President to call out"
[193] "the militia for the protection of the frontiers, and I have accordingly"
[194] "authorized an expedition in which the regular troops in that quarter are"
[195] "combined with such drafts of militia as were deemed sufficient. The event"
[196] "of the measure is yet unknown to me. The Secretary of War is directed to"
[197] "lay before you a statement of the information on which it is founded, as"
[198] "well as an estimate of the expense with which it will be attended."
[199] "<p>"
[200] "The disturbed situation of Europe, and particularly the critical posture of"
[201] "the great maritime powers, whilst it ought to make us the more thankful for"
[202] "the general peace and security enjoyed by the United States, reminds us at"
[203] "the same time of the circumspection with which it becomes us to preserve"
[204] "these blessings. It requires also that we should not overlook the tendency"
[205] "of a war, and even of preparations for a war, among the nations most"
[206] "concerned in active commerce with this country to abridge the means, and"
[207] "thereby at least enhance the price, of transporting its valuable"
[208] "productions to their markets. I recommend it to your serious reflections"
[209] "how far and in what mode it may be expedient to guard against"
[210] "embarrassments from these contingencies by such encouragements to our own"
[211] "navigation as will render our commerce and agriculture less dependent on"
[212] "foreign bottoms, which may fail us in the very moments most interesting to"
[213] "both of these great objects. Our fisheries and the transportation of our"
[214] "own produce offer us abundant means for guarding ourselves against this"
[215] "evil."
[216] "<p>"
[217] "Your attention seems to be not less due to that particular branch of our"
[218] "trade which belongs to the Mediterranean. So many circumstances unite in"
[219] "rendering the present state of it distressful to us that you will not think"
[220] "any deliberations misemployed which may lead to its relief and protection."
[221] "<p>"
[222] "The laws you have already passed for the establishment of a judiciary"
[223] "system have opened the doors of justice to all descriptions of persons. You"
[224] "will consider in your wisdom whether improvements in that system may yet be"
[225] "made, and particularly whether an uniform process of execution on sentences"
[226] "issuing from the Federal courts be not desirable through all the States."
[227] "<p>"
[228] "The patronage of our commerce, of our merchants and sea men, has called for"
[229] "the appointment of consuls in foreign countries. It seems expedient to"
[230] "regulate by law the exercise of that jurisdiction and those functions which"
[231] "are permitted them, either by express convention or by a friendly"
[232] "indulgence, in the places of their residence. The consular convention, too,"
[233] "with His Most Christian Majesty has stipulated in certain cases the aid of"
[234] "the national authority to his consuls established here. Some legislative"
[235] "provision is requisite to carry these stipulations into full effect."
[236] "<p>"
[237] "The establishment of the militia, of a mint, of standards of weights and"
[238] "measures, of the post office and post roads are subjects which I presume"
[239] "you will resume of course, and which are abundantly urged by their own"
[240] "importance."
[241] "<p>"
[242] "Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:"
[243] "<p>"
[244] "The sufficiency of the revenues you have established for the objects to"
[245] "which they are appropriated leaves no doubt that the residuary provisions"
[246] "will be commensurate to the other objects for which the public faith stands"
[247] "now pledged. Allow me, moreover, to hope that it will be a favorite policy"
[248] "with you, not merely to secure a payment of the interest of the debt"
[249] "funded, but as far and as fast as the growing resources of the country will"
[250] "permit to exonerate it of the principal itself. The appropriation you have"
[251] "made of the Western land explains your dispositions on this subject, and I"
[252] "am persuaded that the sooner that valuable fund can be made to contribute,"
[253] "along with the other means, to the actual reduction of the public debt the"
[254] "more salutary will the measure be to every public interest, as well as the"
[255] "more satisfactory to our constituents."
[256] "<p>"
[257] "Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[258] "<p>"
[259] "In pursuing the various and weighty business of the present session I"
[260] "indulge the fullest persuasion that your consultation will be equally"
[261] "marked with wisdom and animated by the love of your country. In whatever"
[262] "belongs to my duty you shall have all the cooperation which an undiminished"
[263] "zeal for its welfare can inspire. It will be happy for us both, and our"
[264] "best reward, if, by a successful administration of our respective trusts,"
[265] "we can make the established Government more and more instrumental in"
[266] "promoting the good of our fellow citizens, and more and more the object of"
[267] "their attachment and confidence."
[268] "<p>"
[269] "GO. WASHINGTON"
[270] "***"
[271] "State of the Union Address"
[272] "George Washington"
[273] "October 25, 1791"
[274] "<p>"
[275] "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[276] "<p>"
[277] "\"In vain may we expect peace with the Indians on our frontiers so long as a"
[278] "lawless set of unprincipled wretches can violate the rights of hospitality,"
[279] "or infringe the most solemn treaties, without receiving the punishment they"
[280] "so justly merit.\""
[281] "<p>"
[282] "I meet you upon the present occasion with the feelings which are naturally"
[283] "inspired by a strong impression of the prosperous situations of our common"
[284] "country, and by a persuasion equally strong that the labors of the session"
[285] "which has just commenced will, under the guidance of a spirit no less"
[286] "prudent than patriotic, issue in measures conducive to the stability and"
[287] "increase of national prosperity."
[288] "<p>"
[289] "Numerous as are the providential blessings which demand our grateful"
[290] "acknowledgments, the abundance with which another year has again rewarded"
[291] "the industry of the husbandman is too important to escape recollection."
[292] "<p>"
[293] "Your own observations in your respective situations will have satisfied you"
[294] "of the progressive state of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and"
[295] "navigation. In tracing their causes you will have remarked with particular"
[296] "pleasure the happy effects of that revival of confidence, public as well as"
[297] "private, to which the Constitution and laws of the United States have so"
[298] "eminently contributed; and you will have observed with no less interest new"
[299] "and decisive proofs of the increasing reputation and credit of the nation."
[300] "But you nevertheless can not fail to derive satisfaction from the"
[301] "confirmation of these circumstances which will be disclosed in the several"
[302] "official communications that will be made to you in the course of your"
[303] "deliberations."
[304] "<p>"
[305] "The rapid subscriptions to the Bank of the United States, which completed"
[306] "the sum allowed to be subscribed in a single day, is among the striking and"
[307] "pleasing evidences which present themselves, not only of confidence in the"
[308] "Government, but of resource in the community."
[309] "<p>"
[310] "In the interval of your recess due attention has been paid to the execution"
[311] "of the different objects which were specially provided for by the laws and"
[312] "resolutions of the last session."
[313] "<p>"
[314] "Among the most important of these is the defense and security of the"
[315] "western frontiers. To accomplish it on the most humane principles was a"
[316] "primary wish."
[317] "<p>"
[318] "Accordingly, at the same time the treaties have been provisionally"
[319] "concluded and other proper means used to attach the wavering and to confirm"
[320] "in their friendship the well-disposed tribes of Indians, effectual measures"
[321] "have been adopted to make those of a hostile description sensible that a"
[322] "pacification was desired upon terms of moderation and justice."
[323] "<p>"
[324] "Those measures having proved unsuccessful, it became necessary to convince"
[325] "the refractory of the power of the United States to punish their"
[326] "depredations. Offensive operations have therefore been directed, to be"
[327] "conducted, however, as consistently as possible with the dictates of"
[328] "humanity."
[329] "<p>"
[330] "Some of these have been crowned with full success and others are yet"
[331] "depending. The expeditions which have been completed were carried on under"
[332] "the authority and at the expense of the United States by the militia of"
[333] "Kentucky, whose enterprise, intrepidity, and good conduct are entitled of"
[334] "peculiar commendation."
[335] "<p>"
[336] "Overtures of peace are still continued to the deluded tribes, and"
[337] "considerable numbers of individuals belonging to them have lately renounced"
[338] "all further opposition, removed from their former situations, and placed"
[339] "themselves under the immediate protection of the United States."
[340] "<p>"
[341] "It is sincerely to be desired that all need of coercion in future may cease"
[342] "and that an intimate intercourse may succeed, calculated to advance the"
[343] "happiness of the Indians and to attach them firmly to the United States."
[344] "<p>"
[345] "In order to this it seems necessary--That they should experience the"
[346] "benefits of an impartial dispensation of justice. That the mode of"
[347] "alienating their lands, the main source of discontent and war, should be so"
[348] "defined and regulated as to obviate imposition and as far as may be"
[349] "practicable controversy concerning the reality and extent of the"
[350] "alienations which are made. That commerce with them should be promoted"
[351] "under regulations tending to secure an equitable deportment toward them,"
[352] "and that such rational experiments should be made for imparting to them the"
[353] "blessings of civilization as may from time to time suit their condition."
[354] "That the Executive of the United States should be enabled to employ the"
[355] "means to which the Indians have been long accustomed for uniting their"
[356] "immediate interests with the preservation of peace. And that efficacious"
[357] "provision should be made for inflicting adequate penalties upon all those"
[358] "who, by violating their rights, shall infringe the treaties and endanger"
[359] "the peace of the Union. A system corresponding with the mild principles of"
[360] "religion and philanthropy toward an unenlightened race of men, whose"
[361] "happiness materially depends on the conduct of the United States, would be"
[362] "as honorable to the national character as conformable to the dictates of"
[363] "sound policy."
[364] "<p>"
[365] "The powers specially vested in me by the act laying certain duties on"
[366] "distilled spirits, which respect the subdivisions of the districts into"
[367] "surveys, the appointment of officers, and the assignment of compensations,"
[368] "have likewise been carried into effect. In a manner in which both materials"
[369] "and experience were wanting to guide the calculation it will be readily"
[370] "conceived that there must have been difficulty in such an adjustment of the"
[371] "rates of compensation as would conciliate a reasonable competency with a"
[372] "proper regard to the limits prescribed by the law. It is hoped that the"
[373] "circumspection which has been used will be found in the result to have"
[374] "secured the last of the two objects; but it is probable that with a view"
[375] "to the first in some instances a revision of the provision will be found"
[376] "advisable."
[377] "<p>"
[378] "The impressions with which this law has been received by the community have"
[379] "been upon the whole such as were to be expected among enlightened and"
[380] "well-disposed citizens from the propriety and necessity of the measure. The"
[381] "novelty, however, of the tax in a considerable part of the United States"
[382] "and a misconception of some of its provisions have given occasion in"
[383] "particular places to some degree of discontent; but it is satisfactory to"
[384] "know that this disposition yields to proper explanations and more just"
[385] "apprehensions of the true nature of the law, and I entertain a full"
[386] "confidence that it will in all give way to motives which arise out of a"
[387] "just sense of duty and a virtuous regard to the public welfare."
[388] "<p>"
[389] "If there are any circumstances in the law which consistently with its main"
[390] "design may be so varied as to remove any well-intentioned objections that"
[391] "may happen to exist, it will consist with a wise moderation to make the"
[392] "proper variations. It is desirable on all occasions to unite with a steady"
[393] "and firm adherence to constitutional and necessary acts of Government the"
[394] "fullest evidence of a disposition as far as may be practicable to consult"
[395] "the wishes of every part of the community and to lay the foundations of the"
[396] "public administration in the affections of the people."
[397] "<p>"
[398] "Pursuant to the authority contained in the several acts on that subject, a"
[399] "district of 10 miles square for the permanent seat of the Government of the"
[400] "United States has been fixed and announced by proclamation, which district"
[401] "will comprehend lands on both sides of the river Potomac and the towns of"
[402] "Alexandria and Georgetown. A city has also been laid out agreeably to a"
[403] "plan which will be placed before Congress, and as there is a prospect,"
[404] "favored by the rate of sales which have already taken place, of ample funds"
[405] "for carrying on the necessary public buildings, there is every expectation"
[406] "of their due progress."
[407] "<p>"
[408] "The completion of the census of the inhabitants, for which provision was"
[409] "made by law, has been duly notified (excepting one instance in which the"
[410] "return has been informal, and another in which it has been omitted or"
[411] "miscarried), and the returns of the officers who were charged with this"
[412] "duty, which will be laid before you, will give you the pleasing assurance"
[413] "that the present population of the United States borders on 4,000,000"
[414] "persons."
[415] "<p>"
[416] "It is proper also to inform you that a further loan of 2,500,000 florins"
[417] "has been completed in Holland, the terms of which are similar to those of"
[418] "the one last announced, except as to a small reduction of charges. Another,"
[419] "on like terms, for 6,000,000 florins, had been set on foot under"
[420] "circumstances that assured an immediate completion."
[421] "<p>"
[422] "Gentlemen of the Senate:"
[423] "<p>"
[424] "Two treaties which have been provisionally concluded with the Cherokees and"
[425] "Six Nations of Indians will be laid before you for your consideration and"
[426] "ratification."
[427] "<p>"
[428] "Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:"
[429] "<p>"
[430] "In entering upon the discharge of your legislative trust you must"
[431] "anticipate with pleasure that many of the difficulties necessarily incident"
[432] "to the first arrangements of a new government for an extensive country have"
[433] "been happily surmounted by the zealous and judicious exertions of your"
[434] "predecessors in cooperation with the other branch of the Legislature. The"
[435] "important objects which remain to be accomplished will, I am persuaded, be"
[436] "conducted upon principles equally comprehensive and equally well calculated"
[437] "of the advancement of the general weal."
[438] "<p>"
[439] "The time limited for receiving subscriptions to the loans proposed by the"
[440] "act making provision for the debt of the United States having expired,"
[441] "statements from the proper department will as soon as possible apprise you"
[442] "of the exact result. Enough, however, is known already to afford an"
[443] "assurance that the views of that act have been substantially fulfilled. The"
[444] "subscription in the domestic debt of the United States has embraced by far"
[445] "the greatest proportion of that debt, affording at the same time proof of"
[446] "the general satisfaction of the public creditors with the system which has"
[447] "been proposed to their acceptance and of the spirit of accommodation to the"
[448] "convenience of the Government with which they are actuated. The"
[449] "subscriptions in the debts of the respective States as far as the"
[450] "provisions of the law have permitted may be said to be yet more general."
[451] "The part of the debt of the United States which remains unsubscribed will"
[452] "naturally engage your further deliberations."
[453] "<p>"
[454] "It is particularly pleasing to me to be able to announce to you that the"
[455] "revenues which have been established promise to be adequate to their"
[456] "objects, and may be permitted, if no unforeseen exigency occurs, to"
[457] "supersede for the present the necessity of any new burthens upon our"
[458] "constituents."
[459] "<p>"
[460] "An object which will claim your early attention is a provision for the"
[461] "current service of the ensuing year, together with such ascertained demands"
[462] "upon the Treasury as require to be immediately discharged, and such"
[463] "casualties as may have arisen in the execution of the public business, for"
[464] "which no specific appropriation may have yet been made; of all which a"
[465] "proper estimate will be laid before you."
[466] "<p>"
[467] "Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:"
[468] "<p>"
[469] "I shall content myself with a general reference to former communications"
[470] "for several objects upon which the urgency of other affairs has hitherto"
[471] "postponed any definitive resolution. Their importance will recall them to"
[472] "your attention, and I trust that the progress already made in the most"
[473] "arduous arrangements of the Government will afford you leisure to resume"
[474] "them to advantage."
[475] "<p>"
[476] "These are, however, some of them of which I can not forbear a more"
[477] "particular mention. These are the militia, the post office and post roads,"
[478] "the mint, weights and measures, a provision for the sale of the vacant"
[479] "lands of the United States."
[480] "<p>"
[481] "The first is certainly an object of primary importance whether viewed in"
[482] "reference to the national security to the satisfaction of the community or"
[483] "to the preservation of order. In connection with this the establishment of"
[484] "competent magazines and arsenals and the fortification of such places as"
[485] "are peculiarly important and vulnerable naturally present themselves to"
[486] "consideration. The safety of the United States under divine protection"
[487] "ought to rest on the basis of systematic and solid arrangements, exposed as"
[488] "little as possible to the hazards of fortuitous circumstances."
[489] "<p>"
[490] "The importance of the post office and post roads on a plan sufficiently"
[491] "liberal and comprehensive, as they respect the expedition, safety, and"
[492] "facility of communication, is increased by their instrumentality in"
[493] "diffusing a knowledge of the laws and proceedings of the Government, which,"
[494] "while it contributes to the security of the people, serves also to guard"
[495] "them against the effects of misrepresentation and misconception. The"
[496] "establishment of additional cross posts, especially to some of the"
[497] "important points in the Western and Northern parts of the Union, can not"
[498] "fail to be of material utility."
[499] "<p>"
[500] "The disorders in the existing currency, and especially the scarcity of"
[501] "small change, a scarcity so peculiarly distressing to the poorer classes,"
[502] "strongly recommend the carrying into immediate effect the resolution"
[503] "already entered into concerning the establishment of a mint. Measures have"
[504] "been taken pursuant to that resolution for procuring some of the most"
[505] "necessary artists, together with the requisite apparatus."
[506] "<p>"
[507] "An uniformity in the weights and measures of the country is among the"
[508] "important objects submitted to you by the Constitution, and if it can be"
[509] "derived from a standard at once invariable and universal, must be no less"
[510] "honorable to the public councils than conducive to the public convenience."
[511] "<p>"
[512] "A provision for the sale of the vacant lands of the United States is"
[513] "particularly urged, among other reasons, by the important considerations"
[514] "that they are pledged as a fund for reimbursing the public debt; that if"
[515] "timely and judiciously applied they may save the necessity of burthening"
[516] "our citizens with new taxes for the extinguishment of the principal; and"
[517] "that being free to discharge the principal but in a limited proportion, no"
[518] "opportunity ought to be lost for availing the public of its right."
[519] "<p>"
[520] "GO. WASHINGTON"
[521] "***"
[522] "State of the Union Address"
[523] "George Washington"
[524] "November 6, 1792"
[525] "<p>"
[526] "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[527] "<p>"
[528] "It is some abatement of the satisfaction with which I meet you on the"
[529] "present occasion that, in felicitating you on a continuance of the national"
[530] "prosperity generally, I am not able to add to it information that the"
[531] "Indian hostilities which have for some time past distressed our"
[532] "Northwestern frontier have terminated."
[533] "<p>"
[534] "You will, I am persuaded, learn with no less concern than I communicate it"
[535] "that reiterated endeavors toward effecting a pacification have hitherto"
[536] "issued only in new and outrageous proofs of persevering hostility on the"
[537] "part of the tribes with whom we are in contest. An earnest desire to"
[538] "procure tranquillity to the frontier, to stop the further effusion of"
[539] "blood, to arrest the progress of expense, to forward the prevalent wish of"
[540] "the nation for peace has led to strenuous efforts through various channels"
[541] "to accomplish these desirable purposes; in making which efforts I consulted"
[542] "less my own anticipations of the event, or the scruples which some"
[543] "considerations were calculated to inspire, than the wish to find the object"
[544] "attainable, or if not attainable, to ascertain unequivocally that such is"
[545] "the case."
[546] "<p>"
[547] "A detail of the measures which have been pursued and of their consequences,"
[548] "which will be laid before you, while it will confirm to you the want of"
[549] "success thus far, will, I trust, evince that means as proper and as"
[550] "efficacious as could have been devised have been employed. The issue of"
[551] "some of them, indeed, is still depending, but a favorable one, though not"
[552] "to be despaired of, is not promised by anything that has yet happened."
[553] "<p>"
[554] "In the course of the attempts which have been made some valuable citizens"
[555] "have fallen victims to their zeal for the public service. A sanction"
[556] "commonly respected even among savages has been found in this instance"
[557] "insufficient to protect from massacre the emissaries of peace. It will, I"
[558] "presume, be duly considered whether the occasion does not call for an"
[559] "exercise of liberality toward the families of the deceased."
[560] "<p>"
[561] "It must add to your concern to be informed that, besides the continuation"
[562] "of hostile appearances among the tribes north of the Ohio, some threatening"
[563] "symptoms have of late been revived among some of those south of it."
[564] "<p>"
[565] "A part of the Cherokees, known by the name of Chickamaugas, inhabiting five"
[566] "villages on the Tennessee River, have long been in the practice of"
[567] "committing depredations on the neighboring settlements."
[568] "<p>"
[569] "It was hoped that the treaty of Holston, made with the Cherokee Nation in"
[570] "July, 1791, would have prevented a repetition of such depredations; but the"
[571] "event has not answered this hope. The Chickamaugas, aided by some banditti"
[572] "of another tribe in their vicinity, have recently perpetrated wanton and"
[573] "unprovoked hostilities upon the citizens of the United States in that"
[574] "quarter. The information which has been received on this subject will be"
[575] "laid before you. Hitherto defensive precautions only have been strictly"
[576] "enjoined and observed."
[577] "<p>"
[578] "It is not understood that any breach of treaty or aggression whatsoever on"
[579] "the part of the United States or their citizens is even alleged as a"
[580] "pretext for the spirit of hostility in this quarter."
[581] "<p>"
[582] "I have reason to believe that every practicable exertion has been made"
[583] "(pursuant to the provision by law for that purpose) to be prepared for the"
[584] "alternative of a prosecution of the war in the event of a failure of"
[585] "pacific overtures. A large proportion of the troops authorized to be raised"
[586] "have been recruited, though the number is still incomplete, and pains have"
[587] "been taken to discipline and put them in condition for the particular kind"
[588] "of service to be performed. A delay of operations (besides being dictated"
[589] "by the measures which were pursuing toward a pacific termination of the"
[590] "war) has been in itself deemed preferable to immature efforts. A statement"
[591] "from the proper department with regard to the number of troops raised, and"
[592] "some other points which have been suggested, will afford more precise"
[593] "information as a guide to the legislative consultations, and among other"
[594] "things will enable Congress to judge whether some additional stimulus to"
[595] "the recruiting service may not be advisable."
[596] "<p>"
[597] "In looking forward to the future expense of the operations which may be"
[598] "found inevitable I derive consolation from the information I receive that"
[599] "the product of the revenues for the present year is likely to supersede the"
[600] "necessity of additional burthens on the community for the service of the"
[601] "ensuing year. This, however, will be better ascertained in the course of"
[602] "the session, and it is proper to add that the information alluded to"
[603] "proceeds upon the supposition of no material extension of the spirit of"
[604] "hostility."
[605] "<p>"
[606] "I can not dismiss the subject of Indian affairs without again recommending"
[607] "to your consideration the expediency of more adequate provision for giving"
[608] "energy to the laws throughout our interior frontier and for restraining the"
[609] "commission of outrages upon the Indians, without which all pacific plans"
[610] "must prove nugatory. To enable, by competent rewards, the employment of"
[611] "qualified and trusty persons to reside among them as agents would also"
[612] "contribute to the preservation of peace and good neighborhood. If in"
[613] "addition to these expedients an eligible plan could be devised for"
[614] "promoting civilization among the friendly tribes and for carrying on trade"
[615] "with them upon a scale equal to their wants and under regulations"
[616] "calculated to protect them from imposition and extortion, its influence in"
[617] "cementing their interest with ours could not but be considerable."
[618] "<p>"
[619] "The prosperous state of our revenue has been intimated. This would be still"
[620] "more the case were it not for the impediments which in some places continue"
[621] "to embarrass the collection of the duties on spirits distilled within the"
[622] "United States. These impediments have lessened and are lessening in local"
[623] "extent, and, as applied to the community at large, the contentment with the"
[624] "law appears to be progressive."
[625] "<p>"
[626] "But symptoms of increased opposition having lately manifested themselves in"
[627] "certain quarters, I judged a special interposition on my part proper and"
[628] "advisable, and under this impression have issued a proclamation warning"
[629] "against all unlawful combinations and proceedings having for their object"
[630] "or tending to obstruct the operation of the law in question, and announcing"
[631] "that all lawful ways and means would be strictly put in execution for"
[632] "bringing to justice the infractors thereof and securing obedience thereto."
[633] "<p>"
[634] "Measures have also been taken for the prosecution of offenders, and"
[635] "Congress may be assured that nothing within constitutional and legal limits"
[636] "which may depend upon me shall be wanting to assert and maintain the just"
[637] "authority of the laws. In fulfilling this trust I shall count entirely upon"
[638] "the full cooperation of the other departments of the Government and upon"
[639] "the zealous support of all good citizens."
[640] "<p>"
[641] "I can not forbear to bring again into the view of the Legislature the"
[642] "subject of a revision of the judiciary system. A representation from the"
[643] "judges of the Supreme Court, which will be laid before you, points out some"
[644] "of the inconveniences that are experienced. In the course of the execution"
[645] "of the laws considerations arise out of the structure of the system which"
[646] "in some cases tend to relax their efficacy. As connected with this subject,"
[647] "provisions to facilitate the taking of bail upon processes out of the"
[648] "courts of the United States and a supplementary definition of offenses"
[649] "against the Constitution and laws of the Union and of the punishment for"
[650] "such offenses will, it is presumed, be found worthy of particular"
[651] "attention."
[652] "<p>"
[653] "Observations on the value of peace with other nations are unnecessary. It"
[654] "would be wise, however, by timely provisions to guard against those acts of"
[655] "our own citizens which might tend to disturb it, and to put ourselves in a"
[656] "condition to give that satisfaction to foreign nations which we may"
[657] "sometimes have occasion to require from them. I particularly recommend to"
[658] "your consideration the means of preventing those aggressions by our"
[659] "citizens on the territory of other nations, and other infractions of the"
[660] "law of nations, which, furnishing just subject of complaint, might endanger"
[661] "our peace with them; and, in general, the maintenance of a friendly"
[662] "intercourse with foreign powers will be presented to your attention by the"
[663] "expiration of the law for that purpose, which takes place, if not renewed,"
[664] "at the close of the present session."
[665] "<p>"
[666] "In execution of the authority given by the Legislature measures have been"
[667] "taken for engaging some artists from abroad to aid in the establishment of"
[668] "our mint. Others have been employed at home. Provision has been made of the"
[669] "requisite buildings, and these are now putting into proper condition for"
[670] "the purposes of the establishment. There has also been a small beginning in"
[671] "the coinage of half dimes, the want of small coins in circulation calling"
[672] "the first attention to them."
[673] "<p>"
[674] "The regulation of foreign coins in correspondency with the principles of"
[675] "our national coinage, as being essential to their due operation and to"
[676] "order in our money concerns, will, I doubt not, be resumed and completed."
[677] "<p>"
[678] "It is represented that some provisions in the law which establishes the"
[679] "post office operate, in experiment, against the transmission of news papers"
[680] "to distant parts of the country. Should this, upon due inquiry, be found to"
[681] "be the fact, a full conviction of the importance of facilitating the"
[682] "circulation of political intelligence and information will, I doubt not,"
[683] "lead to the application of a remedy."
[684] "<p>"
[685] "The adoption of a constitution for the State of Kentucky has been notified"
[686] "to me. The Legislature will share with me in the satisfaction which arises"
[687] "from an event interesting to the happiness of the part of the nation to"
[688] "which it relates and conducive to the general order."
[689] "<p>"
[690] "It is proper likewise to inform you that since my last communication on the"
[691] "subject, and in further execution of the acts severally making provision"
[692] "for the public debt and for the reduction thereof, three new loans have"
[693] "been effected, each for 3,000,000 florins--one at Antwerp, at the annual"
[694] "interest of 4.5%, with an allowance of 4% in lieu of all charges, in the"
[695] "other 2 at Amsterdam, at the annual interest of 4%, with an allowance of"
[696] "5.5% in one case and of 5% in the other in lieu of all charges. The rates"
[697] "of these loans and the circumstances under which they have been made are"
[698] "confirmations of the high state of our credit abroad."
[699] "<p>"
[700] "Among the objects to which these funds have been directed to be applied,"
[701] "the payment of the debts due to certain foreign officers, according to the"
[702] "provision made during the last session, has been embraced."
[703] "<p>"
[704] "Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:"
[705] "<p>"
[706] "I entertain a strong hope that the state of the national finances is now"
[707] "sufficiently matured to enable you to enter upon a systematic and effectual"
[708] "arrangement for the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt,"
[709] "according to the right which has been reserved to the Government. No"
[710] "measure can be more desirable, whether viewed with an eye to its intrinsic"
[711] "importance or to the general sentiment and wish of the nation."
[712] "<p>"
[713] "Provision is likewise requisite for the reimbursement of the loan which has"
[714] "been made of the Bank of the United States, pursuant to the eleventh"
[715] "section of the act by which it is incorporated. In fulfilling the public"
[716] "stipulations in this particular it is expected a valuable saving will be"
[717] "made."
[718] "<p>"
[719] "Appropriations for the current service of the ensuing year and for such"
[720] "extraordinaries as may require provision will demand, and I doubt not will"
[721] "engage, your early attention."
[722] "<p>"
[723] "Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:"
[724] "<p>"
[725] "I content myself with recalling your attention generally to such objects,"
[726] "not particularized in my present, as have been suggested in my former"
[727] "communications to you."
[728] "<p>"
[729] "Various temporary laws will expire during the present session. Among these,"
[730] "that which regulates trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes will"
[731] "merit particular notice."
[732] "<p>"
[733] "The results of your common deliberations hitherto will, I trust, be"
[734] "productive of solid and durable advantages to our constituents, such as, by"
[735] "conciliating more and more their ultimate suffrage, will tend to strengthen"
[736] "and confirm their attachment to that Constitution of Government upon which,"
[737] "under Divine Providence, materially depend their union, their safety, and"
[738] "their happiness."
[739] "<p>"
[740] "Still further to promote and secure these inestimable ends there is nothing"
[741] "which can have a more powerful tendency than the careful cultivation of"
[742] "harmony, combined with a due regard to stability, in the public councils."
[743] "<p>"
[744] "GO. WASHINGTON"
[745] "***"
[746] "State of the Union Address"
[747] "George Washington"
[748] "December 3, 1793"
[749] "<p>"
[750] "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[751] "<p>"
[752] "Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again called into"
[753] "office no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my fellow citizens at"
[754] "large the deep and respectful sense which I feel of the renewed testimony"
[755] "of public approbation. While on the one hand it awakened my gratitude for"
[756] "all those instances of affectionate partiality with which I have been"
[757] "honored by my country, on the other it could not prevent an earnest wish"
[758] "for that retirement from which no private consideration should ever have"
[759] "torn me. But influenced by the belief that my conduct would be estimated"
[760] "according to its real motives, and that the people, and the authorities"
[761] "derived from them, would support exertions having nothing personal for"
[762] "their object, I have obeyed the suffrage which commanded me to resume the"
[763] "Executive power; and I humbly implore that Being on whose will the fate of"
[764] "nations depends to crown with success our mutual endeavors for the general"
[765] "happiness."
[766] "<p>"
[767] "As soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers with whom the United"
[768] "States have the most extensive relations there was reason to apprehend that"
[769] "our intercourse with them might be interrupted and our disposition for"
[770] "peace drawn into question by the suspicions too often entertained by"
[771] "belligerent nations. It seemed, therefore, to be my duty to admonish our"
[772] "citizens of the consequences of a contraband trade and of hostile acts to"
[773] "any of the parties, and to obtain by a declaration of the existing legal"
[774] "state of things an easier admission of our right to the immunities"
[775] "belonging to our situation. Under these impressions the proclamation which"
[776] "will be laid before you was issued."
[777] "<p>"
[778] "In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved to adopt"
[779] "general rules which should conform to the treaties and assert the"
[780] "privileges of the United States. These were reduced into a system, which"
[781] "will be communicated to you. Although I have not thought of myself at"
[782] "liberty to forbid the sale of the prizes permitted by our treaty of"
[783] "commerce with France to be brought into our ports, I have not refused to"
[784] "cause them to be restored when they were taken within the protection of our"
[785] "territory, or by vessels commissioned or equipped in a warlike form within"
[786] "the limits of the United States."
[787] "<p>"
[788] "It rests with the wisdom of Congress to correct, improve, or enforce this"
[789] "plan of procedure; and it will probably be found expedient to extend the"
[790] "legal code and the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States to many"
[791] "cases which, though dependent on principles already recognized, demand some"
[792] "further provisions."
[793] "<p>"
[794] "Where individuals shall, within the United States, array themselves in"
[795] "hostility against any of the powers at war, or enter upon military"
[796] "expeditions or enterprises within the jurisdiction of the United States, or"
[797] "usurp and exercise judicial authority within the United States, or where"
[798] "the penalties on violations of the law of nations may have been"
[799] "indistinctly marked, or are inadequate--these offenses can not receive too"
[800] "early and close an attention, and require prompt and decisive remedies."
[801] "<p>"
[802] "Whatsoever those remedies may be, they will be well administered by the"
[803] "judiciary, who possess a long-established course of investigation,"
[804] "effectual process, and officers in the habit of executing it."
[805] "<p>"
[806] "In like manner, as several of the courts have doubted, under particular"
[807] "circumstances, their power to liberate the vessels of a nation at peace,"
[808] "and even of a citizen of the United States, although seized under a false"
[809] "color of being hostile property, and have denied their power to liberate"
[810] "certain captures within the protection of our territory, it would seem"
[811] "proper to regulate their jurisdiction in these points. But if the Executive"
[812] "is to be the resort in either of the two last-mentioned cases, it is hoped"
[813] "that he will be authorized by law to have facts ascertained by the courts"
[814] "when for his own information he shall request it."
[815] "<p>"
[816] "I can not recommend to your notice measures for the fulfillment of our"
[817] "duties to the rest of the world without again pressing upon you the"
[818] "necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defense and of"
[819] "exacting from them the fulfillment of their duties toward us. The United"
[820] "States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to the order of"
[821] "human events, they will forever keep at a distance those painful appeals to"
[822] "arms with which the history of every other nation abounds. There is a rank"
[823] "due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not"
[824] "absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid"
[825] "insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of"
[826] "the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known"
[827] "that we are at all times ready for war. The documents which will be"
[828] "presented to you will shew the amount and kinds of arms and military stores"
[829] "now in our magazines and arsenals; and yet an addition even to these"
[830] "supplies can not with prudence be neglected, as it would leave nothing to"
[831] "the uncertainty of procuring warlike apparatus in the moment of public"
[832] "danger."
[833] "<p>"
[834] "Nor can such arrangements, with such objects, be exposed to the censure or"
[835] "jealousy of the warmest friends of republican government. They are"
[836] "incapable of abuse in the hands of the militia, who ought to possess a"
[837] "pride in being the depository of the force of the Republic, and may be"
[838] "trained to a degree of energy equal to every military exigency of the"
[839] "United States. But it is an inquiry which can not be too solemnly pursued,"
[840] "whether the act \"more effectually to provide for the national defense by"
[841] "establishing an uniform militia throughout the United States\" has organized"
[842] "them so as to produce their full effect; whether your own experience in the"
[843] "several States has not detected some imperfections in the scheme, and"
[844] "whether a material feature in an improvement of it ought not to be to"
[845] "afford an opportunity for the study of those branches of the military art"
[846] "which can scarcely ever be attained by practice alone."
[847] "<p>"
[848] "The connection of the United States with Europe has become extremely"
[849] "interesting. The occurrences which relate to it and have passed under the"
[850] "knowledge of the Executive will be exhibited to Congress in a subsequent"
[851] "communication."
[852] "<p>"
[853] "When we contemplate the war on our frontiers, it may be truly affirmed that"
[854] "every reasonable effort has been made to adjust the causes of dissension"
[855] "with the Indians north of the Ohio. The instructions given to the"
[856] "commissioners evince a moderation and equity proceeding from a sincere love"
[857] "of peace, and a liberality having no restriction but the essential"
[858] "interests and dignity of the United States. The attempt, however, of an"
[859] "amicable negotiation having been frustrated, the troops have marched to act"
[860] "offensively. Although the proposed treaty did not arrest the progress of"
[861] "military preparation, it is doubtful how far the advance of the season,"
[862] "before good faith justified active movements, may retard them during the"
[863] "remainder of the year. From the papers and intelligence which relate to"
[864] "this important subject you will determine whether the deficiency in the"
[865] "number of troops granted by law shall be compensated by succors of militia,"
[866] "or additional encouragements shall be proposed to recruits."
[867] "<p>"
[868] "An anxiety has been also demonstrated by the Executive for peace with the"
[869] "Creeks and the Cherokees. The former have been relieved with corn and with"
[870] "clothing, and offensive measures against them prohibited during the recess"
[871] "of Congress. To satisfy the complaints of the latter, prosecutions have"
[872] "been instituted for the violences committed upon them. But the papers which"
[873] "will be delivered to you disclose the critical footing on which we stand in"
[874] "regard to both those tribes, and it is with Congress to pronounce what"
[875] "shall be done."
[876] "<p>"
[877] "After they shall have provided for the present emergency, it will merit"
[878] "their most serious labors to render tranquillity with the savages permanent"
[879] "by creating ties of interest. Next to a rigorous execution of justice on"
[880] "the violators of peace, the establishment of commerce with the Indian"
[881] "nations in behalf of the United States is most likely to conciliate their"
[882] "attachment. But it ought to be conducted without fraud, without extortion,"
[883] "with constant and plentiful supplies, with a ready market for the"
[884] "commodities of the Indians and a stated price for what they give in payment"
[885] "and receive in exchange. Individuals will not pursue such a traffic unless"
[886] "they be allured by the hope of profit; but it will be enough for the United"
[887] "States to be reimbursed only. Should this recommendation accord with the"
[888] "opinion of Congress, they will recollect that it can not be accomplished by"
[889] "any means yet in the hands of the Executive."
[890] "<p>"
[891] "Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:"
[892] "<p>"
[893] "The commissioners charged with the settlement of accounts between the"
[894] "United States and individual States concluded their important function"
[895] "within the time limited by law, and the balances struck in their report,"
[896] "which will be laid before Congress, have been placed on the books of the"
[897] "Treasury."
[898] "<p>"
[899] "On the first day of June last an installment of 1,000,000 florins became"
[900] "payable on the loans of the United States in Holland. This was adjusted by"
[901] "a prolongation of the period of reimbursement in nature of a new loan at an"
[902] "interest of 5% for the term of ten years, and the expenses of this"
[903] "operation were a commission of 3%."
[904] "<p>"
[905] "The first installment of the loan of $2,000,000 from the Bank of the United"
[906] "States has been paid, as was directed by law. For the second it is"
[907] "necessary that provision be made."
[908] "<p>"
[909] "No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and"
[910] "discharge of the public debt. On none can delay be more injurious or an"
[911] "economy of time more valuable."
[912] "<p>"
[913] "The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has continued to equal"
[914] "the anticipations which were formed of it, but it is not expected to prove"
[915] "commensurate with all the objects which have been suggested. Some auxiliary"
[916] "provisions will therefore, it is presumed, be requisite, and it is hoped"
[917] "that these may be made consistently with a due regard to the convenience of"
[918] "our citizens, who can not but be sensible of the true wisdom of"
[919] "encountering a small present addition to their contributions to obviate a"
[920] "future accumulation of burthens."
[921] "<p>"
[922] "But here I can not forbear to recommend a repeal of the tax on the"
[923] "transportation of public prints. There is no resource so firm for the"
[924] "Government of the United States as the affections of the people, guided by"
[925] "an enlightened policy; and to this primary good nothing can conduce more"
[926] "than a faithful representation of public proceedings, diffused without"
[927] "restraint throughout the United States."
[928] "<p>"
[929] "An estimate of the appropriations necessary for the current service of the"
[930] "ensuing year and a statement of a purchase of arms and military stores made"
[931] "during the recess will be presented to Congress."
[932] "<p>"
[933] "Gentlemen of the Senate and of the House of Representatives:"
[934] "<p>"
[935] "The several subjects to which I have now referred open a wide range to your"
[936] "deliberations and involve some of the choicest interests of our common"
[937] "country. Permit me to bring to your remembrance the magnitude of your task."
[938] "Without an unprejudiced coolness the welfare of the Government may be"
[939] "hazarded; without harmony as far as consists with freedom of sentiment its"
[940] "dignity may be lost. But as the legislative proceedings of the United"
[941] "States will never, I trust, be reproached for the want of temper or of"
[942] "candor, so shall not the public happiness languish from the want of my"
[943] "strenuous and warmest cooperation."
[944] "<p>"
[945] "GO. WASHINGTON"
[946] "***"
[947] "State of the Union Address"
[948] "George Washington"
[949] "November 19, 1794"
[950] "<p>"
[951] "Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives:"
[952] "<p>"
[953] "When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven by which the"
[954] "American people became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of"
[955] "our country, and look forward to the riches, power, and happiness to which"
[956] "it seems destined, with the deepest regret do I announce to you that during"
[957] "your recess some of the citizens of the United States have been found"
[958] "capable of insurrection. It is due, however, to the character of our"
[959] "Government and to its stability, which can not be shaken by the enemies of"
[960] "order, freely to unfold the course of this event."
[961] "<p>"
[962] "During the session of the year 1790 it was expedient to exercise the"
[963] "legislative power granted by the Constitution of the United States \"to lay"
[964] "and collect excises\". In a majority of the States scarcely an objection was"
[965] "heard to this mode of taxation. In some, indeed, alarms were at first"
[966] "conceived, until they were banished by reason and patriotism. In the four"
[967] "western counties of Pennsylvania a prejudice, fostered and imbittered by"
[968] "the artifice of men who labored for an ascendency over the will of others"
[969] "by the guidance of their passions, produced symptoms of riot and violence."
[970] "<p>"
[971] "It is well known that Congress did not hesitate to examine the complaints"
[972] "which were presented, and to relieve them as far as justice dictated or"
[973] "general convenience would permit. But the impression which this moderation"
[974] "made on the discontented did not correspond with what it deserved. The arts"
[975] "of delusion were no longer confined to the efforts of designing"
[976] "individuals. The very forbearance to press prosecutions was misinterpreted"
[977] "into a fear of urging the execution of the laws, and associations of men"
[978] "began to denounce threats against the officers employed. From a belief that"
[979] "by a more formal concert their operation might be defeated, certain"
[980] "self-created societies assumed the tone of condemnation. Hence, while the"
[981] "greater part of Pennsylvania itself were conforming themselves to the acts"
[982] "of excise, a few counties were resolved to frustrate them. It is now"
[983] "perceived that every expectation from the tenderness which had been"
[984] "hitherto pursued was unavailing, and that further delay could only create"
[985] "an opinion of impotency or irresolution in the Government. Legal process"
[986] "was therefore delivered to the marshal against the rioters and delinquent"
[987] "distillers."
[988] "<p>"
[989] "No sooner was he understood to be engaged in this duty than the vengeance"
[990] "of armed men was aimed at his person and the person and property of the"
[991] "inspector of the revenue. They fired upon the marshal, arrested him, and"
[992] "detained him for some time as a prisoner. He was obliged, by the jeopardy"
[993] "of his life, to renounce the service of other process on the west side of"
[994] "the Allegheny Mountain, and a deputation was afterwards sent to him to"
[995] "demand a surrender of that which he had served. A numerous body repeatedly"
[996] "attacked the house of the inspector, seized his papers of office, and"
[997] "finally destroyed by fire his buildings and whatsoever they contained. Both"
[998] "of these officers, from a just regard to their safety, fled to the seat of"
[999] "Government, it being avowed that the motives to such outrages were to"
[1000] "compel the resignation of the inspector, to withstand by force of arms the"
[ reached getOption("max.print") -- omitted 179498 entries ]
" and the first paragraph of each address is metadata (information about the address rather than the text of the address itself). The last line is the president’s name. The following code does four things. First, it reads in the State of the Union Addresses. Second, it collapses the vector of text lines into a single string usint the str_c function. Third, it splits this string into a new vector at each occurrence of three asterisks. Because asterisks are special characters, we need to escape each one with two backslashes. Fourth, it “unlists” the results to produce a vector.
#Read in State of the Union addresses and split by address
sotu <- readLines("stateoftheunion1790-2019.txt") %>%
str_c(collapse = " ") %>%
str_split("\\*\\*\\* ") %>% unlistNow we have a vector of 233 elements, each one containing the full text of a single State of the Union Address.
“. To access it, we want to use the regular expression for”any character other than <“, which is [^<]. We follow this with + to indicate one or more characters. Finally, we add”
" to indicate that we want all of the text up to and including the first instance of "
".
first_par <- str_extract(sotu, "[^<]+<p>")
first_par [1] "State of the Union Address George Washington January 8, 1790 <p>"
[2] "State of the Union Address George Washington December 8, 1790 <p>"
[3] "State of the Union Address George Washington October 25, 1791 <p>"
[4] "State of the Union Address George Washington November 6, 1792 <p>"
[5] "State of the Union Address George Washington December 3, 1793 <p>"
[6] "State of the Union Address George Washington November 19, 1794 <p>"
[7] "State of the Union Address George Washington December 8, 1795 <p>"
[8] "State of the Union Address George Washington December 7, 1796 <p>"
[9] "State of the Union Address John Adams November 22, 1797 <p>"
[10] "State of the Union Address John Adams December 8, 1798 <p>"
[11] "State of the Union Address John Adams December 3, 1799 <p>"
[12] "State of the Union Address John Adams November 11, 1800 <p>"
[13] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 8, 1801 <p>"
[14] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 15, 1802 <p>"
[15] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson October 17, 1803 <p>"
[16] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson November 8, 1804 <p>"
[17] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 3, 1805 <p>"
[18] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson December 2, 1806 <p>"
[19] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson October 27, 1807 <p>"
[20] "State of the Union Address Thomas Jefferson November 8, 1808 <p>"
[21] "State of the Union Address James Madison November 29, 1809 <p>"
[22] "State of the Union Address James Madison December 5, 1810 <p>"
[23] "State of the Union Address James Madison November 5, 1811 <p>"
[24] "State of the Union Address James Madison November 4, 1812 <p>"
[25] "State of the Union Address James Madison December 7, 1813 <p>"
[26] "State of the Union Address James Madison September 20, 1814 <p>"
[27] "State of the Union Address James Madison December 5, 1815 <p>"
[28] "State of the Union Address James Madison December 3, 1816 <p>"
[29] "State of the Union Address James Monroe December 12, 1817 <p>"
[30] "State of the Union Address James Monroe November 16, 1818 <p>"
[31] "State of the Union Address James Monroe December 7, 1819 <p>"
[32] "State of the Union Address James Monroe November 14, 1820 <p>"
[33] "State of the Union Address James Monroe December 3, 1821 <p>"
[34] "State of the Union Address James Monroe December 3, 1822 <p>"
[35] "State of the Union Address James Monroe December 2, 1823 <p>"
[36] "State of the Union Address James Monroe December 7, 1824 <p>"
[37] "State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 6, 1825 <p>"
[38] "State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 5, 1826 <p>"
[39] "State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 4, 1827 <p>"
[40] "State of the Union Address John Quincy Adams December 2, 1828 <p>"
[41] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 8, 1829 <p>"
[42] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 6, 1830 <p>"
[43] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 6, 1831 <p>"
[44] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 4, 1832 <p>"
[45] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 3, 1833 <p>"
[46] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 1, 1834 <p>"
[47] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 7, 1835 <p>"
[48] "State of the Union Address Andrew Jackson December 5, 1836 <p>"
[49] "State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 5, 1837 <p>"
[50] "State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 3, 1838 <p>"
[51] "State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 2, 1839 <p>"
[52] "State of the Union Address Martin van Buren December 5, 1840 <p>"
[53] "State of the Union Address John Tyler December 7, 1841 <p>"
[54] "State of the Union Address John Tyler December 6, 1842 <p>"
[55] "State of the Union Address John Tyler December 6, 1843 <p>"
[56] "State of the Union Address John Tyler December 3, 1844 <p>"
[57] "State of the Union Address James Polk December 2, 1845 <p>"
[58] "State of the Union Address James Polk December 8, 1846 <p>"
[59] "State of the Union Address James Polk December 7, 1847 <p>"
[60] "State of the Union Address James Polk December 5, 1848 <p>"
[61] "State of the Union Address Zachary Taylor December 4, 1849 <p>"
[62] "State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 2, 1850 <p>"
[63] "State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 2, 1851 <p>"
[64] "State of the Union Address Millard Fillmore December 6, 1852 <p>"
[65] "State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 5, 1853 <p>"
[66] "State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 4, 1854 <p>"
[67] "State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 31, 1855 <p>"
[68] "State of the Union Address Franklin Pierce December 2, 1856 <p>"
[69] "State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 8, 1857 <p>"
[70] "State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 6, 1858 <p>"
[71] "State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 19, 1859 <p>"
[72] "State of the Union Address James Buchanan December 3, 1860 <p>"
[73] "State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 3, 1861 <p>"
[74] "State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 1, 1862 <p>"
[75] "State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 8, 1863 <p>"
[76] "State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln December 6, 1864 <p>"
[77] "State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 4, 1865 <p>"
[78] "State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 3, 1866 <p>"
[79] "State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 3, 1867 <p>"
[80] "State of the Union Address Andrew Johnson December 9, 1868 <p>"
[81] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 6, 1869 <p>"
[82] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 5, 1870 <p>"
[83] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 4, 1871 <p>"
[84] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 2, 1872 <p>"
[85] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 1, 1873 <p>"
[86] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 7, 1874 <p>"
[87] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 7, 1875 <p>"
[88] "State of the Union Address Ulysses S. Grant December 5, 1876 <p>"
[89] "State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 3, 1877 <p>"
[90] "State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 2, 1878 <p>"
[91] "State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 1, 1879 <p>"
[92] "State of the Union Address Rutherford B. Hayes December 6, 1880 <p>"
[93] "State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 6, 1881 <p>"
[94] "State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 4, 1882 <p>"
[95] "State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 4, 1883 <p>"
[96] "State of the Union Address Chester A. Arthur December 1, 1884 <p>"
[97] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 8, 1885 <p>"
[98] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 6, 1886 <p>"
[99] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 6, 1887 <p>"
[100] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 3, 1888 <p>"
[101] "State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 3, 1889 <p>"
[102] "State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 1, 1890 <p>"
[103] "State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 9, 1891 <p>"
[104] "State of the Union Address Benjamin Harrison December 6, 1892 <p>"
[105] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 3, 1893 <p>"
[106] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 2, 1894 <p>"
[107] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 7, 1895 <p>"
[108] "State of the Union Address Grover Cleveland December 4, 1896 <p>"
[109] "State of the Union Address William McKinley December 6, 1897 <p>"
[110] "State of the Union Address William McKinley December 5, 1898 <p>"
[111] "State of the Union Address William McKinley December 5, 1899 <p>"
[112] "State of the Union Address William McKinley December 3, 1900 <p>"
[113] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1901 <p>"
[114] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 2, 1902 <p>"
[115] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 7, 1903 <p>"
[116] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 6, 1904 <p>"
[117] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 5, 1905 <p>"
[118] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1906 <p>"
[119] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1907 <p>"
[120] "State of the Union Address Theodore Roosevelt December 8, 1908 <p>"
[121] "State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 7, 1909 <p>"
[122] "State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 6, 1910 <p>"
[123] "State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 5, 1911 <p>"
[124] "State of the Union Address William H. Taft December 3, 1912 <p>"
[125] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1913 <p>"
[126] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 8, 1914 <p>"
[127] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 7, 1915 <p>"
[128] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 5, 1916 <p>"
[129] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 4, 1917 <p>"
[130] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1918 <p>"
[131] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 2, 1919 <p>"
[132] "State of the Union Address Woodrow Wilson December 7, 1920 <p>"
[133] "State of the Union Address Warren Harding December 6, 1921 <p>"
[134] "State of the Union Address Warren Harding December 8, 1922 <p>"
[135] "State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 6, 1923 <p>"
[136] "State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 3, 1924 <p>"
[137] "State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 8, 1925 <p>"
[138] "State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 7, 1926 <p>"
[139] "State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 6, 1927 <p>"
[140] "State of the Union Address Calvin Coolidge December 4, 1928 <p>"
[141] "State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 3, 1929 <p>"
[142] "State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 2, 1930 <p>"
[143] "State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 8, 1931 <p>"
[144] "State of the Union Address Herbert Hoover December 6, 1932 <p>"
[145] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1934 <p>"
[146] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 4, 1935 <p>"
[147] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1936 <p>"
[148] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1937 <p>"
[149] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1938 <p>"
[150] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 4, 1939 <p>"
[151] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 3, 1940 <p>"
[152] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1941 <p>"
[153] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1942 <p>"
[154] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 7, 1943 <p>"
[155] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 11, 1944 <p>"
[156] "State of the Union Address Franklin D. Roosevelt January 6, 1945 <p>"
[157] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 21, 1946 <p>"
[158] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 6, 1947 <p>"
[159] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 7, 1948 <p>"
[160] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 5, 1949 <p>"
[161] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 4, 1950 <p>"
[162] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 8, 1951 <p>"
[163] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 9, 1952 <p>"
[164] "State of the Union Address Harry S. Truman January 7, 1953 <p>"
[165] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower February 2, 1953 <p>"
[166] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 7, 1954 <p>"
[167] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 6, 1955 <p>"
[168] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 5, 1956 <p>"
[169] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 10, 1957 <p>"
[170] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 9, 1958 <p>"
[171] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 9, 1959 <p>"
[172] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 7, 1960 <p>"
[173] "State of the Union Address Dwight D. Eisenhower January 12, 1961 <p>"
[174] "State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 30, 1961 <p>"
[175] "State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 11, 1962 <p>"
[176] "State of the Union Address John F. Kennedy January 14, 1963 <p>"
[177] "State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 8, 1964 <p>"
[178] "State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 4, 1965 <p>"
[179] "State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 12, 1966 <p>"
[180] "State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 10, 1967 <p>"
[181] "State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 17, 1968 <p>"
[182] "State of the Union Address Lyndon B. Johnson January 14, 1969 <p>"
[183] "State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 22, 1970 <p>"
[184] "State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 22, 1971 <p>"
[185] "State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 20, 1972 <p>"
[186] "State of the Union Address Richard Nixon February 2, 1973 <p>"
[187] "State of the Union Address Richard Nixon January 30, 1974 <p>"
[188] "State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 15, 1975 <p>"
[189] "State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 19, 1976 <p>"
[190] "State of the Union Address Gerald R. Ford January 12, 1977 <p>"
[191] "State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 19, 1978 <p>"
[192] "State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 25, 1979 <p>"
[193] "State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 21, 1980 <p>"
[194] "State of the Union Address Jimmy Carter January 16, 1981 <p>"
[195] "State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 26, 1982 <p>"
[196] "State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1983 <p>"
[197] "State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1984 <p>"
[198] "State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan February 6, 1985 <p>"
[199] "State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan February 4, 1986 <p>"
[200] "State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 27, 1987 <p>"
[201] "State of the Union Address Ronald Reagan January 25, 1988 <p>"
[202] "Address on Administration Goals George H.W. Bush February 9, 1989 <p>"
[203] "State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 31, 1990 <p>"
[204] "State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 29, 1991 <p>"
[205] "State of the Union Address George H.W. Bush January 28, 1992 <p>"
[206] "Address on Administration Goals William J. Clinton February 17, 1993 <p>"
[207] "State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 25, 1994 <p>"
[208] "State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 24, 1995 <p>"
[209] "State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 23, 1996 <p>"
[210] "State of the Union Address William J. Clinton February 4, 1997 <p>"
[211] "State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 27, 1998 <p>"
[212] "State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 19, 1999 <p>"
[213] "State of the Union Address William J. Clinton January 27, 2000 <p>"
[214] "Address on Administration Goals (Budget Message) George W. Bush February 27, 2001 <p>"
[215] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush September 20, 2001 <p>"
[216] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 29, 2002 <p>"
[217] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 28, 2003 <p>"
[218] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 20, 2004 <p>"
[219] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush February 2, 2005 <p>"
[220] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 31, 2006 <p>"
[221] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 23, 2007 <p>"
[222] "State of the Union Address George W. Bush January 28, 2008 <p>"
[223] "Address to Joint Session of Congress Barack Obama February 24, 2009 <p>"
[224] "State of the Union Address Barack Obama January 27, 2010 <p>"
[225] "State of the Union Address Barack Obama January 25, 2011 <p>"
[226] "State of the Union Address Barack Obama January 24, 2012 <p>"
[227] "State of the Union Address Barack Obama February 12, 2013 <p>"
[228] "State of the Union Address Barack Obama January 28, 2014 <p>"
[229] "State of the Union Address Barack Obama January 20, 2015 <p>"
[230] "State of the Union Address Barack Obama January 12, 2016 <p>"
[231] "Address to Joint Session of Congress Donald J. Trump February 28, 2017 <p>"
[232] "State of the Union Address Donald J. Trump January 30, 2018 <p>"
[233] "State of the Union Address Donald J. Trump February 5, 2019 <p>" As expected, the first paragraph is always the metadata: title of the address, president, and date. Note that after Reagan, the first address given by each president is not titled “State of the Union Address”. We want to extract two things from the first paragraph of each State of the Union: the year of the address and the president who gave it. The year is easy to extract with regular expressions because a year is always a four-digit number starting with 1 or 2.
year <- str_extract(first_par, "[1-2][0-9][0-9][0-9]")
year [1] "1790" "1790" "1791" "1792" "1793" "1794" "1795" "1796" "1797" "1798" "1799"
[12] "1800" "1801" "1802" "1803" "1804" "1805" "1806" "1807" "1808" "1809" "1810"
[23] "1811" "1812" "1813" "1814" "1815" "1816" "1817" "1818" "1819" "1820" "1821"
[34] "1822" "1823" "1824" "1825" "1826" "1827" "1828" "1829" "1830" "1831" "1832"
[45] "1833" "1834" "1835" "1836" "1837" "1838" "1839" "1840" "1841" "1842" "1843"
[56] "1844" "1845" "1846" "1847" "1848" "1849" "1850" "1851" "1852" "1853" "1854"
[67] "1855" "1856" "1857" "1858" "1859" "1860" "1861" "1862" "1863" "1864" "1865"
[78] "1866" "1867" "1868" "1869" "1870" "1871" "1872" "1873" "1874" "1875" "1876"
[89] "1877" "1878" "1879" "1880" "1881" "1882" "1883" "1884" "1885" "1886" "1887"
[100] "1888" "1889" "1890" "1891" "1892" "1893" "1894" "1895" "1896" "1897" "1898"
[111] "1899" "1900" "1901" "1902" "1903" "1904" "1905" "1906" "1907" "1908" "1909"
[122] "1910" "1911" "1912" "1913" "1914" "1915" "1916" "1917" "1918" "1919" "1920"
[133] "1921" "1922" "1923" "1924" "1925" "1926" "1927" "1928" "1929" "1930" "1931"
[144] "1932" "1934" "1935" "1936" "1937" "1938" "1939" "1940" "1941" "1942" "1943"
[155] "1944" "1945" "1946" "1947" "1948" "1949" "1950" "1951" "1952" "1953" "1953"
[166] "1954" "1955" "1956" "1957" "1958" "1959" "1960" "1961" "1961" "1962" "1963"
[177] "1964" "1965" "1966" "1967" "1968" "1969" "1970" "1971" "1972" "1973" "1974"
[188] "1975" "1976" "1977" "1978" "1979" "1980" "1981" "1982" "1983" "1984" "1985"
[199] "1986" "1987" "1988" "1989" "1990" "1991" "1992" "1993" "1994" "1995" "1996"
[210] "1997" "1998" "1999" "2000" "2001" "2001" "2002" "2003" "2004" "2005" "2006"
[221] "2007" "2008" "2009" "2010" "2011" "2012" "2013" "2014" "2015" "2016" "2017"
[232] "2018" "2019"As you see here, there were two State of the Union addresses in 1790, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the year. There were also two SOTUs in a few other years as well. The table() function will show how many addresses there were in each year. We will add 0.5 to the year of any second address in a given year.
table(year)year
1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805
2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1934
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966
1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1
1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
1 1 1 1 1 table(year)[table(year) == 2]year
1790 1953 1961 2001
2 2 2 2 str_which(year, "1790")[1] 1 2year[2] <- "1790.5"
str_which(year, "1953")[1] 164 165year[165] <- "1953.5"
str_which(year, "1961")[1] 173 174year[174] <- "1961.5"
str_which(year, "2001")[1] 214 215year[215] <- "2001.5"The other thing that we want from each first paragraph is the name of the president who gave the address. We can do that by stripping the extraneous information.
pres <- str_replace(first_par, " +[A-Z][a-z]+ [0-9]+, [1-2][0-9][0-9][0-9] <p>", "") %>%
str_replace(".+ Address ", "") %>% str_replace(".+ Congress ", "") %>%
str_replace(".+ Goals ", "") %>% str_replace(".+\\) ", "")
pres [1] "George Washington" "George Washington" "George Washington"
[4] "George Washington" "George Washington" "George Washington"
[7] "George Washington" "George Washington" "John Adams"
[10] "John Adams" "John Adams" "John Adams"
[13] "Thomas Jefferson" "Thomas Jefferson" "Thomas Jefferson"
[16] "Thomas Jefferson" "Thomas Jefferson" "Thomas Jefferson"
[19] "Thomas Jefferson" "Thomas Jefferson" "James Madison"
[22] "James Madison" "James Madison" "James Madison"
[25] "James Madison" "James Madison" "James Madison"
[28] "James Madison" "James Monroe" "James Monroe"
[31] "James Monroe" "James Monroe" "James Monroe"
[34] "James Monroe" "James Monroe" "James Monroe"
[37] "John Quincy Adams" "John Quincy Adams" "John Quincy Adams"
[40] "John Quincy Adams" "Andrew Jackson" "Andrew Jackson"
[43] "Andrew Jackson" "Andrew Jackson" "Andrew Jackson"
[46] "Andrew Jackson" "Andrew Jackson" "Andrew Jackson"
[49] "Martin van Buren" "Martin van Buren" "Martin van Buren"
[52] "Martin van Buren" "John Tyler" "John Tyler"
[55] "John Tyler" "John Tyler" "James Polk"
[58] "James Polk" "James Polk" "James Polk"
[61] "Zachary Taylor" "Millard Fillmore" "Millard Fillmore"
[64] "Millard Fillmore" "Franklin Pierce" "Franklin Pierce"
[67] "Franklin Pierce" "Franklin Pierce" "James Buchanan"
[70] "James Buchanan" "James Buchanan" "James Buchanan"
[73] "Abraham Lincoln" "Abraham Lincoln" "Abraham Lincoln"
[76] "Abraham Lincoln" "Andrew Johnson" "Andrew Johnson"
[79] "Andrew Johnson" "Andrew Johnson" "Ulysses S. Grant"
[82] "Ulysses S. Grant" "Ulysses S. Grant" "Ulysses S. Grant"
[85] "Ulysses S. Grant" "Ulysses S. Grant" "Ulysses S. Grant"
[88] "Ulysses S. Grant" "Rutherford B. Hayes" "Rutherford B. Hayes"
[91] "Rutherford B. Hayes" "Rutherford B. Hayes" "Chester A. Arthur"
[94] "Chester A. Arthur" "Chester A. Arthur" "Chester A. Arthur"
[97] "Grover Cleveland" "Grover Cleveland" "Grover Cleveland"
[100] "Grover Cleveland" "Benjamin Harrison" "Benjamin Harrison"
[103] "Benjamin Harrison" "Benjamin Harrison" "Grover Cleveland"
[106] "Grover Cleveland" "Grover Cleveland" "Grover Cleveland"
[109] "William McKinley" "William McKinley" "William McKinley"
[112] "William McKinley" "Theodore Roosevelt" "Theodore Roosevelt"
[115] "Theodore Roosevelt" "Theodore Roosevelt" "Theodore Roosevelt"
[118] "Theodore Roosevelt" "Theodore Roosevelt" "Theodore Roosevelt"
[121] "William H. Taft" "William H. Taft" "William H. Taft"
[124] "William H. Taft" "Woodrow Wilson" "Woodrow Wilson"
[127] "Woodrow Wilson" "Woodrow Wilson" "Woodrow Wilson"
[130] "Woodrow Wilson" "Woodrow Wilson" "Woodrow Wilson"
[133] "Warren Harding" "Warren Harding" "Calvin Coolidge"
[136] "Calvin Coolidge" "Calvin Coolidge" "Calvin Coolidge"
[139] "Calvin Coolidge" "Calvin Coolidge" "Herbert Hoover"
[142] "Herbert Hoover" "Herbert Hoover" "Herbert Hoover"
[145] "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt"
[148] "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt"
[151] "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt"
[154] "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt" "Franklin D. Roosevelt"
[157] "Harry S. Truman" "Harry S. Truman" "Harry S. Truman"
[160] "Harry S. Truman" "Harry S. Truman" "Harry S. Truman"
[163] "Harry S. Truman" "Harry S. Truman" "Dwight D. Eisenhower"
[166] "Dwight D. Eisenhower" "Dwight D. Eisenhower" "Dwight D. Eisenhower"
[169] "Dwight D. Eisenhower" "Dwight D. Eisenhower" "Dwight D. Eisenhower"
[172] "Dwight D. Eisenhower" "Dwight D. Eisenhower" "John F. Kennedy"
[175] "John F. Kennedy" "John F. Kennedy" "Lyndon B. Johnson"
[178] "Lyndon B. Johnson" "Lyndon B. Johnson" "Lyndon B. Johnson"
[181] "Lyndon B. Johnson" "Lyndon B. Johnson" "Richard Nixon"
[184] "Richard Nixon" "Richard Nixon" "Richard Nixon"
[187] "Richard Nixon" "Gerald R. Ford" "Gerald R. Ford"
[190] "Gerald R. Ford" "Jimmy Carter" "Jimmy Carter"
[193] "Jimmy Carter" "Jimmy Carter" "Ronald Reagan"
[196] "Ronald Reagan" "Ronald Reagan" "Ronald Reagan"
[199] "Ronald Reagan" "Ronald Reagan" "Ronald Reagan"
[202] "George H.W. Bush" "George H.W. Bush" "George H.W. Bush"
[205] "George H.W. Bush" "William J. Clinton" "William J. Clinton"
[208] "William J. Clinton" "William J. Clinton" "William J. Clinton"
[211] "William J. Clinton" "William J. Clinton" "William J. Clinton"
[214] "George W. Bush" "George W. Bush" "George W. Bush"
[217] "George W. Bush" "George W. Bush" "George W. Bush"
[220] "George W. Bush" "George W. Bush" "George W. Bush"
[223] " Barack Obama" "Barack Obama" "Barack Obama"
[226] "Barack Obama" "Barack Obama" "Barack Obama"
[229] "Barack Obama" "Barack Obama" "Donald J. Trump"
[232] "Donald J. Trump" "Donald J. Trump"
" to the end of the element. Building from the end of the regular expression, we start with $, which indicates the end of the element. Before that, we want anything other than <, one or more times. Before that, we want "
".
last_par <- str_extract(sotu, "<p>[^<]+$")
last_par [1] "<p> The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed, and I shall derive great satisfaction from a cooperation with you in the pleasing though arduous task of insuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect from a free, efficient, and equal government. "
[2] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[3] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[4] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[5] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[6] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[7] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[8] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[9] "<p> In all such measures you may rely on my zealous and hearty concurrence. "
[10] "<p> I can not close this address without once more adverting to our political situation and inculcating the essential importance of uniting in the maintenance of our dearest interests; and I trust that by the temper and wisdom of your proceedings and by a harmony of measures we shall secure to our country that weight and respect to which it is so justly entitled. "
[11] "<p> At a period like the present, when momentous changes are occurring and every hour is preparing new and great events in the political world, when a spirit of war is prevalent in almost every nation with whose affairs the interests of the United States have any connection, unsafe and precarious would be our situation were we to neglect the means of maintaining our just rights. The result of the mission to France is uncertain; but however it may terminate, a steady perseverance in a system of national defense commensurate with our resources and the situation of our country is an obvious dictate of wisdom; for, remotely as we are placed from the belligerent nations, and desirous as we are, by doing justice to all, to avoid offense to any, nothing short of the power of repelling aggressions will secure to our country a rational prospect of escaping the calamities of war or national degradation. As to myself, it is my anxious desire so to execute the trust reposed in me as to render the people of the United States prosperous and happy. I rely with entire confidence on your cooperation in objects equally your care, and that our mutual labors will serve to increase and confirm union among our fellow citizens and an unshaken attachment to our Government. "
[12] "<p> To your patriotism, gentlemen, has been confided the honorable duty of guarding the public interests; and while the past is to your country a sure pledge that it will be faithfully discharged, permit me to assure you that your labors to promote the general happiness will receive from me the most zealous cooperation. "
[13] "<p> The prudence and temperance of your discussions will promote within your own walls that conciliation which so much befriends rational conclusion, and by its example will encourage among our constituents that progress of opinion which is tending to unite them in object and in will. That all should be satisfied with any one order of things is not to be expected; but I indulge the pleasing persuasion that the great body of our citizens will cordially concur in honest and disinterested efforts which have for their object to preserve the General and State Governments in their constitutional form and equilibrium; to maintain peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at home; to establish principles and practices of administration favorable to the security of liberty and property, and to reduce expenses to what is necessary for the useful purposes of Government. "
[14] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[15] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[16] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[17] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[18] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[19] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[20] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[21] "<p> Recollecting always that for every advantage which may contribute to distinguish our lot from that to which others are doomed by the unhappy spirit of the times we are indebted to that Divine Providence whose goodness has been so remarkably extended to this rising nation, it becomes us to cherish a devout gratitude, and to implore from the same omnipotent source a blessing on the consultations and measures about to be undertaken for the welfare of our beloved country. "
[22] "<p> Reserving for future occasions in the course of the session whatever other communications may claim your attention, I close the present by expressing my reliance, under the blessing of Divine Providence, on the judgement and patriotism which will guide your measures at a period particularly calling for united councils and flexible exertions for the welfare of our country, and by assuring you of the fidelity and alacrity with which my cooperation will be afforded. "
[23] "<p> I can not close this communication without expressing my deep sense of the crisis in which you are assembled, my confidence in a wise and honorable result to your deliberations, and assurances of the faithful zeal with which my cooperating duties will be discharged, invoking at the same time the blessing of Heaven on our beloved country and on all the means that may be employed in vindicating its rights and advancing its welfare. "
[24] "<p> It remains only that, faithful to ourselves, entangled in no connections with the views of other powers, and ever ready to accept peace from the hand of justice, we prosecute the war with united counsels and with the ample faculties of the nation until peace be so obtained and as the only means under the Divine blessing of speedily obtaining it. "
[25] "<p> In fine, the war, with all its vicissitudes, is illustrating the capacity and the destiny of the United States to be a great, a flourishing, and a powerful nation, worthy of the friendship which it is disposed to cultivate with all others, and authorized by its own example to require from all an observance of the laws of justice and reciprocity. Beyond these their claims have never extended, and in contending for these we behold a subject for our congratulations in the daily testimonies of increasing harmony throughout the nation, and may humbly repose our trust in the smiles of Heaven on so righteous a cause. "
[26] "<p> Having forborne to declare war until to other aggressions had been added the capture of near one thousand American vessels and the impressment of thousands of American sea faring citizens, and until a final declaration had been made by the Government of Great Britain that her hostile orders against our commerce would not be revoked but on conditions as impossible as unjust, whilst it was known that these orders would not otherwise cease but with a war which had lasted nearly twenty years, and which, according to appearances at that time, might last as many more; having manifested on every occasion and in every proper mode a sincere desire to arrest the effusion of blood and meet our enemy on the ground of justice and reconciliation, our beloved country, in still opposing to his persevering hostility all its energies, with an undiminished disposition toward peace and friendship on honorable terms, must carry with it the good wishes of the impartial world and the best hopes of support from an omnipotent and kind Providence. "
[27] "<p> In all measures having such objects my faithful cooperation will be afforded. "
[28] "<p> These contemplations, sweetening the remnant of my days, will animate my prayers for the happiness of my beloved country, and a perpetuity of the institutions under which it is enjoyed. "
[29] "<p> In this instance we have the satisfaction to know that they were imposed when the demand was imperious, and have been sustained with exemplary fidelity. I have to add that however gratifying it may be to me regarding the prosperous and happy condition of our country to recommend the repeal of these taxes at this time, I shall nevertheless be attentive to events, and, should any future emergency occur, be not less prompt to suggest such measures and burdens as may then be requisite and proper. "
[30] "<p> When we view the great blessings with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow. Let us, then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings to the Divine Author of All Good. "
[31] "<p> In the execution of the duty imposed by these acts, and of a high trust connected with it, it is with deep regret I have to state the loss which has been sustained by the death of Commodore Perry. His gallantry in a brilliant exploit in the late war added to the renown of his country. His death is deplored as a national misfortune. "
[32] "<p> Our peace with the powers on the coast of Barbary has been preserved, but we owe it altogether to the presence of our squadron in the Mediterranean. It has been found equally necessary to employ some of our vessels for the protection of our commerce in the Indian Sea, the Pacific, and along the Atlantic coast. The interests which we have depending in those quarters, which have been much improved of late, are of great extent and of high importance to the nation as well as to the parties concerned, and would undoubtedly suffer if such protection was not extended to them. In execution of the law of the last session for the suppression of the slave trade some of our public ships have also been employed on the coast of Africa, where several captures have already been made of vessels engaged in that disgraceful traffic. "
[33] "<p> Deeply impressed with the blessings which we enjoy, and of which we have such manifold proofs, my mind is irresistibly drawn to that Almighty Being, the great source from whence they proceed and to whom our most grateful acknowledgments are due. "
[34] "<p> It has been often charged against free governments that they have neither the foresight nor the virtue to provide at the proper season for great emergencies; that their course is improvident and expensive; that war will always find them unprepared, and, whatever may be its calamities, that its terrible warnings will be disregarded and forgotten as soon as peace returns. I have full confidence that this charge so far as relates to the United States will be shewn to be utterly destitute of truth. "
[35] "<p> It is unnecessary to treat here of the vast improvement made in the system itself by the adoption of this Constitution and of its happy effect in elevating the character and in protecting the rights of the nation as well as individuals. To what, then, do we owe these blessings? It is known to all that we derive them from the excellence of our institutions. Ought we not, then, to adopt every measure which may be necessary to perpetuate them? "
[36] "<p> I can not conclude this communication, the last of the kind which I shall have to make, without recollecting with great sensibility and heart felt gratitude the many instances of the public confidence and the generous support which I have received from my fellow citizens in the various trusts with which I have been honored. Having commenced my service in early youth, and continued it since with few and short intervals, I have witnessed the great difficulties to which our Union has been surmounted. From the present prosperous and happy state I derive a gratification which I can not express. That these blessings may be preserved and perpetuated will be the object of my fervent and unceasing prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. "
[37] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[38] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[39] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[40] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[41] "<p> I now commend you, fellow citizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, with a full reliance on His merciful providence for the maintenance of our free institutions, and with an earnest supplication that what ever errors it may be my lot to commit in discharging the arduous duties which have devolved on me will find a remedy in the harmony and wisdom of your counsels. "
[42] "<p> In conclusion, fellow citizens, allow me to invoke in behalf of your deliberations that spirit of conciliation and disinterestedness which is the gift of patriotism. Under an over-ruling and merciful Providence the agency of this spirit has thus far been signalized in the prosperity and glory of our beloved country. May its influence be eternal. "
[43] "<p> In conclusion permit me to invoke that Power which superintends all governments to infuse into your deliberations at this important crisis of our history a spirit of mutual forbearance and conciliation. In that spirit was our Union formed, and in that spirit must it be preserved. "
[44] "<p> Limited to a general superintending power to maintain peace at home and abroad, and to prescribe laws on a few subjects of general interest not calculated to restrict human liberty, but to enforce human rights, this Government will find its strength and its glory in the faithful discharge of these plain and simple duties. Relieved by its protecting shield from the fear of war and the apprehension of oppression, the free enterprise of our citizens, aided by the State sovereignties, will work out improvements and ameliorations which can not fail to demonstrate that the great truth that the people can govern themselves is not only realized in our example, but that it is done by a machinery in government so simple and economical as scarcely to be felt. That the Almighty Ruler of the Universe may so direct our deliberations and over-rule our acts as to make us instrumental in securing a result so dear to mankind is my most earnest and sincere prayer. "
[45] "<p> Trusting that your deliberations on all the topics of general interest to which I have adverted, and such others as your more extensive knowledge of the wants of our beloved country may suggest, may be crowned with success, I tender you in conclusion the cooperation which it may be in my power to afford them. "
[46] "<p> I am not hostile to internal improvements, and wish to see them extended to every part of the country. But I am fully persuaded, if they are not commenced in a proper manner, confined to proper objects, and conducted under an authority generally conceded to be rightful, that a successful prosecution of them can not be reasonably expected. The attempt will meet with resistance where it might otherwise receive support, and instead of strengthening the bonds of our Confederacy it will only multiply and aggravate the causes of disunion. "
[47] "<p> I am gratified in being able to inform you that no occurrence has required any movement of the military force, except such as is common to a state of peace. The services of the Army have been limited to their usual duties at the various garrisons upon the Atlantic and in-land frontier, with the exceptions states by the Secretary of War. Our small military establishment appears to be adequate to the purposes for which it is maintained, and it forms a nucleus around which any additional force may be collected should the public exigencies unfortunately require any increase of our military means. "
[48] "<p> Having now finished the observations deemed proper on this the last occasion I shall have of communicating with the two Houses of Congress at their meeting, I can not omit an expression of the gratitude which is due to the great body of my fellow citizens, in whose partiality and indulgence I have found encouragement and support in the many difficult and trying scenes through which it has been my lot to pass during my public career. Though deeply sensible that my exertions have not been crowned with a success corresponding to the degree of favor bestowed upon me, I am sure that they will be considered as having been directed by an earnest desire to promote the good of my country, and I am consoled by the persuasion that what ever errors have been committed will find a corrective in the intelligence and patriotism of those who will succeed us. All that has occurred during my Administration is calculated to inspire me with increased confidence in the stability of our institutions; and should I be spared to enter upon that retirement which is so suitable to my age and infirm health and so much desired by me in other respects, I shall not cease to invoke that beneficent Being to whose providence we are already so signally indebted for the continuance of His blessings on our beloved country. "
[49] "<p> Your attention has heretofore been frequently called to the affairs of the District of Columbia, and I should not again ask it did not their entire dependence on Congress give them a constant claim upon its notice. Separated by the Constitution from the rest of the Union, limited in extent, and aided by no legislature of its own, it would seem to be a spot where a wise and uniform system of local government might have been easily adopted. This District has, however, unfortunately been left to linger behind the rest of the Union. Its codes, civil and criminal, are not only very defective, but full of obsolete or inconvenient provisions. Being formed of portions of two States, discrepancies in the laws prevail in different parts of the territory, small as it is; and although it was selected as the seat of the General Government, the site of its public edifices, the depository of its archives, and the residence of officers intrusted with large amounts of public property and the management of public business, yet it has never been subjected to or received that special and comprehensive legislation which these circumstances peculiarly demand. I am well aware of the various subjects of greater magnitude and immediate interest that press themselves on the consideration of Congress, but I believe there is not one that appeals more directly to its justice than a liberal and even generous attention to the interests of the District of Columbia and a thorough and careful revision of its local government. M. VAN BUREN "
[50] "<p> M. VAN BUREN "
[51] "<p> M. VAN BUREN "
[52] "<p> M. VAN BUREN "
[53] "<p> In conclusion I commend to your care the interests of this District, for which you are the exclusive legislators. Considering that this city is the residence of the Government and for a large part of the year of Congress, and considering also the great cost of the public buildings and the propriety of affording them at all times careful protection, it seems not unreasonable that Congress should contribute toward the expense of an efficient police. "
[54] "<p> I have thus, fellow-citizens, acquitted myself of my duty under the Constitution by laying before you as succinctly as I have been able the state of the Union and by inviting your attention to measures of much importance to the country. The executive will most zealously unite its efforts with those of the legislative department in the accomplishment of all that is required to relieve the wants of a common constituency or elevate the destinies of a beloved country. "
[55] "<p> In this condition of things I have felt it to be my duty to bring to your favorable consideration matters of great interest in their present and ultimate results; and the only desire which I feel in connection with the future is and will continue to be to leave the country prosperous and its institutions unimpaired. "
[56] "<p> I have thus, gentlemen of the two Houses of Congress, presented you a true and faithful picture of the condition of public affairs, both foreign and domestic. The wants of the public service are made known to you, and matters of no ordinary importance are urged upon your consideration. Shall I not be permitted to congratulate you on the happy auspices under which you have assembled and at the important change in the condition of things which has occurred in the last three years? During that period questions with foreign powers of vital importance to the peace of our country have been settled and adjusted. A desolating and wasting war with savage tribes has been brought to a close. The internal tranquillity of the country, threatened by agitating questions, has been preserved. The credit of the Government, which had experienced a temporary embarrassment, has been thoroughly restored. Its coffers, which for a season were empty, have been replenished. A currency nearly uniform in its value has taken the place of one depreciated and almost worthless. Commerce and manufactures, which had suffered in common with every other interest, have once more revived, and the whole country exhibits an aspect of prosperity and happiness. Trade and barter, no longer governed by a wild and speculative mania, rest upon a solid and substantial footing, and the rapid growth of our cities in every direction bespeaks most strongly the favorable circumstances by which we are surrounded. My happiness in the retirement which shortly awaits me is the ardent hope which I experience that this state of prosperity is neither deceptive nor destined to be short lived, and that measures which have not yet received its sanction, but which I can not but regard as closely connected with the honor, the glory, and still more enlarged prosperity of the country, are destined at an early day to receive the approval of Congress. Under these circumstances and with these anticipations I shall most gladly leave to others more able than myself the noble and pleasing task of sustaining the public prosperity. I shall carry with me into retirement the gratifying reflection that as my sole object throughout has been to advance the public good I may not entirely have failed in accomplishing it; and this gratification is heightened in no small degree by the fact that when under a deep and abiding sense of duty I have found myself constrained to resort to the qualified veto it has neither been followed by disapproval on the part of the people nor weakened in any degree their attachment to that great conservative feature of our Government. "
[57] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[58] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[59] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[60] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[61] "<p> Z. TAYLOR. "
[62] "<p> Our liberties, religions and civil, have been maintained, the fountains of knowledge have all been kept open, and means of happiness widely spread and generally enjoyed greater than have fallen to the lot of any other nation. And while deeply penetrated with gratitude for the past, let us hope that His all-wise providence will so guide our counsels as that they shall result in giving satisfaction to our constituents, securing the peace of the country, and adding new strength to the united Government under which we live. "
[63] "<p> In my last annual message I stated that I considered the series of measures which had been adopted at the previous session in reference to the agitation growing out of the Territorial and slavery questions as a final settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting subjects which they embraced, and I recommended adherence to the adjustment established by those measures until time and experience should demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse. I was not induced to make this recommendation because I thought those measures perfect, for no human legislation can be perfect. Wide differences and jarring opinions can only be reconciled by yielding something on all sides, and this result had been reached after an angry conflict of many months, in which one part of the country was arrayed against another, and violent convulsion seemed to be imminent. Looking at the interests of the whole country, I felt it to be my duty to seize upon this compromise as the best that could be obtained amid conflicting interests and to insist upon it as a final settlement, to be adhered to by all who value the peace and welfare of the country. A year has now elapsed since that recommendation was made. To that recommendation I still adhere, and I congratulate you and the country upon the general acquiescence in these measures of peace which has been exhibited in all parts of the Republic. And not only is there this general acquiescence in these measures, but the spirit of conciliation which has been manifested in regard to them in all parts of the country has removed doubts and uncertainties in the minds of thousands of good men concerning the durability of our popular institutions and given renewed assurance that our liberty and our Union may subsist together for the benefit of this and all succeeding generations. "
[64] "<p> We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the happy Constitution and Government which were bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit in all their integrity to our children. We must all consider it a great distinction and privilege to have been chosen by the people to bear a part in the administration of such a Government. Called by an unexpected dispensation to its highest trust at a season of embarrassment and alarm, I entered upon its arduous duties with extreme diffidence. I claim only to have discharged them to the best of an humble ability, with a single eye to the public good, and it is with devout gratitude in retiring from office that I leave the country in a state of peace and prosperity. "
[65] "<p> In compliance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1853, the oath of office was administered to him on the 24th of that month at Ariadne estate, near Matanzas, in the island of Cuba; but his strength gradually declined, and was hardly sufficient to enable him to return to his home in Alabama, where, on the 18th day of April, in the most calm and peaceful way, his long and eminently useful career was terminated. Entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the public interest, and being conscious of no motives on my part which are not inseparable from the honor and advancement of my country, I hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure not only your cordial cooperation in great public measures, but also those relations of mutual confidence and regard which it is always so desirable to cultivate between members of coordinate branches of the Government. "
[66] "<p> Under the solemnity of these convictions the blessing of Almighty God is earnestly invoked to attend upon your deliberations and upon all the counsels and acts of the Government, to the end that, with common zeal and common efforts, we may, in humble submission to the divine will, cooperate for the promotion of the supreme good of these United States. "
[67] "<p> Nor is it hostility against their fellow-citizens of one section of the Union alone. The interests, the honor, the duty, the peace, and the prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and imperiled in this question. And are patriotic men in any part of the Union prepared on such issue thus madly to invite all the consequences of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements? It is impossible. The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the Constitution. I shall never doubt it. I know that the Union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild and chimerical schemes of social change which are generated one after another in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested agitators. I rely confidently on the patriotism of the people, on the dignity and self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of Congress, and, above all, on the continued gracious favor of Almighty God to maintain against all enemies, whether at home or abroad, the sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the Union. "
[68] "<p> I shall prepare to surrender the Executive trust to my successor and retire to private life with sentiments of profound gratitude to the good Providence which during the period of my Administration has vouchsafed to carry the country through many difficulties, domestic and foreign, and which enables me to contemplate the spectacle of amicable and respectful relations between ours and all other governments and the establishment of constitutional order and tranquillity throughout the Union. "
[69] "<p> I can not conclude without commending to your favorable consideration the interest of the people of this District. Without a representative on the floor of Congress, they have for this very reason peculiar claims upon our just regard. To this I know, from my long acquaintance with them, they are eminently entitled. "
[70] "<p> I can not conclude without performing the agreeable duty of expressing my gratification that Congress so kindly responded to the recommendation of my last annual message by affording me sufficient time before the close of their late session for the examination of all the bills presented to me for approval. This change in the practice of Congress has proved to be a wholesome reform. It exerted a beneficial influence on the transaction of legislative business and elicited the general approbation of the country. It enabled Congress to adjourn with that dignity and deliberation so becoming to the representatives of this great Republic, without having crowded into general appropriation bills provisions foreign to their nature and of doubtful constitutionality and expediency. Let me warmly and strongly commend this precedent established by themselves as a guide to their proceedings during the present session. "
[71] "<p> In conclusion I would again commend to the just liberality of Congress the local interests of the District of Columbia. Surely the city bearing the name of Washington, and destined, I trust, for ages to be the capital of our united, free, and prosperous Confederacy, has strong claims on our favorable regard. "
[72] "<p> I cordially commend to your favorable regard the interests of the people of this District. They are eminently entitled to your consideration, especially since, unlike the people of the States, they can appeal to no government except that of the Union. "
[73] "<p> From the first taking of our national census to the last are seventy years, and we find our population at the end of the period eight times as great as it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things which men deem desirable has been even greater. We thus have at one view what the popular principle, applied to Government through the machinery, of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time, and also what if firmly maintained it promises for the future. There are already among us those who if the Union be preserved will live to see it contain 250,000,000. The struggle of to-day is not altogether for to-day; it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us. "
[74] "<p> Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free--honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just--a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless. "
[75] "<p> The movements by State action for emancipation in several of the States not included in the emancipation proclamation are matters of profound gratulation. And while I do not repeat in detail what I have heretofore so earnestly urged upon this subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged; and I trust that Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aiding these important steps to a great consummation. In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main reliance. To that power alone can we look yet for a time to give confidence to the people in the contested regions that the insurgent power will not again overrun them. Until that confidence shall be established little can be done anywhere for what is called reconstruction. Hence our chiefest care must still be directed to the Army and Navy, who have thus far borne their harder part so nobly and well; and it may be esteemed fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indispensable arms we do also honorably recognize the gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom more than to others the world must stand indebted for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and perpetuated. "
[76] "<p> Wisconsin - 152,180 - 148,513 - "
[77] "<p> Where in past history does a parallel exist to the public happiness which is within the reach of the people of the United States? Where in any part of the globe can institutions be found so suited to their habits or so entitled to their love as their own free Constitution? Every one of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his home, must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not now acknowledge, in the words of Washington, that \"every step by which the people of the United States have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency\"? Who will not join with me in the prayer that the Invisible Hand which has led us through the clouds that gloomed around our path will so guide us onward to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection that we of this day may be able to transmit our great inheritance of State governments in all their rights, of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, to our posterity, and they to theirs through countless generations? "
[78] "<p> In the performance of a duty imposed upon me by the Constitution I have thus submitted to the representatives of the States and of the people such information of our domestic and foreign affairs as the public interests seem to require. Our Government is now undergoing its most trying ordeal, and my earnest prayer is that the peril may be successfully and finally passed without impairing its original strength and symmetry. The interests of the nation are best to be promoted by the revival of fraternal relations, the complete obliteration of our past differences, and the reinauguration of all the pursuits of peace. Directing our efforts to the early accomplishment of these great ends, let us endeavor to preserve harmony between the coordinate departments of the Government, that each in its proper sphere may cordially cooperate with the other in securing the maintenance of the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the perpetuity of our free institutions. "
[79] "<p> The abuse of our laws by the clandestine prosecution of the African slave trade from American ports or by American citizens has altogether ceased, and under existing circumstances no apprehensions of its renewal in this part of the world are entertained. Under these circumstances it becomes a question whether we shall not propose to Her Majesty's Government a suspension or discontinuance of the stipulations for maintaining a naval force for the suppression of that trade. "
[80] "<p> In the performance of a duty imposed upon me by the Constitution, I have thus communicated to Congress information of the state of the Union and recommended for their consideration such measures as have seemed to me necessary and expedient. If carried into effect, they will hasten the accomplishment of the great and beneficent purposes for which the Constitution was ordained, and which it comprehensively states were \"to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.\" In Congress are vested all legislative powers, and upon them devolves the responsibility as well for framing unwise and excessive laws as for neglecting to devise and adopt measures absolutely demanded by the wants of the country. Let us earnestly hope that before the expiration of our respective terms of service, now rapidly drawing to a close, an all-wise Providence will so guide our counsels as to strengthen and preserve the Federal Unions, inspire reverence for the Constitution, restore prosperity and happiness to our whole people, and promote \"on earth peace, good will toward men.\" "
[81] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[82] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[83] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[84] "<p> From miscellaneous - 412,254.71 - "
[85] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[86] "<p> - - "
[87] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[88] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[89] "<p> Receipts (ordinary, from money-order business and from official postage stamps) - 27,468,323,420 - "
[90] "<p> R. B. HAYES "
[91] "<p> I also invite the favorable consideration of Congress to the wants of the public schools of this District, as exhibited in the report of the Commissioners. While the number of pupils is rapidly increasing, no adequate provision exists for a corresponding increase of school accommodation, and the Commissioners are without the means to meet this urgent need. A number of the buildings now used for school purposes are rented, and are in important particulars unsuited for the purpose. The cause of popular education in the District of Columbia is surely entitled to the same consideration at the hands of the National Government as in the several States and Territories, to which munificent grants of the public lands have been made for the endowment of schools and universities. "
[92] "<p> From miscellaneous sources - 4,099,603.88 - "
[93] "<p> And to the increase of cash in the Treasury - 14,637,023.93 - "
[94] "<p> Of old demand, compound-interest, and other notes - 18,350.00 - "
[95] "<p> Total expenditures, actual and estimated - 258,000,000.00 - "
[96] "<p> And to my fellow-citizens generally I acknowledge a deep sense of obligation for the support which they have accorded me in my administration of the executive department of this Government. "
[97] "<p> In conclusion I commend to the wise care and thoughtful attention of Congress the needs, the welfare, and the aspirations of an intelligent and generous nation. To subordinate these to the narrow advantages of partisanship or the accomplishment of selfish aims is to violate the people's trust and betray the people's interests; but an individual sense of responsibility on the part of each of us and a stern determination to perform our duty well must give us place among those who have added in their day and generation to the glory and prosperity of our beloved land. "
[98] "<p> In conclusion I earnestly invoke such wise action on the part of the people's legislators as will subserve the public good and demonstrate during the remaining days of the Congress as at present organized its ability and inclination to so meet the people's needs that it shall be gratefully remembered by an expectant constituency. "
[99] "<p> As the law makes no provision for any report from the Department of State, a brief history of the transactions of that important Department, together with other matters which it may hereafter be deemed essential to commend to the attention of the Congress, may furnish the occasion for a future communication. "
[100] "<p> District of Columbia - 2 - "
[101] "<p> BENJ. HARRISON "
[102] "<p> I venture again to remind you that the brief time remaining for the consideration of the important legislation now awaiting your attention offers no margin for waste. If the present duty is discharged with diligence, fidelity, and courage, the work of the Fifty-first Congress may be confidently submitted to the considerate judgment of the people. BENJ. HARRISON "
[103] "<p> BENJ. HARRISON "
[104] "<p> BENJ. HARRISON "
[105] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[106] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[107] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[108] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[109] "<p> The estimates of the expenses of the Government by the several Departments will, I am sure, have your careful scrutiny. While the Congress may not find it an easy task to reduce the expenses of the Government, it should not encourage their increase. These expenses will in my judgment admit of a decrease in many branches of the Government without injury to the public service. It is a commanding duty to keep the appropriations within the receipts of the Government, and thus avoid a deficit. "
[110] "<p> The several departmental reports will be laid before you. They give in great detail the conduct of the affairs of the Government during the past year and discuss many questions upon which the Congress may feel called upon to act. "
[111] "<p> Kansas Pacific--dividends for deficiency due United States, cash - 821,897.70 - "
[112] "<p> In our great prosperity we must guard against the danger it invites of extravagance in Government expenditures and appropriations; and the chosen representatives of the people will, I doubt not, furnish an example in their legislation of that wise economy which in a season of plenty husbands for the future. In this era of great business activity and opportunity caution is not untimely. It will not abate, but strengthen, confidence. It will not retard, but promote, legitimate industrial and commercial expansion. Our growing power brings with it temptations and perils requiring constant vigilance to avoid. It must not be used to invite conflicts, nor for oppression, but for the more effective maintenance of those principles of equality and justice upon which our institutions and happiness depend. Let us keep always in mind that the foundation of our Government is liberty; its superstructure peace. "
[113] "<p> The death of Queen Victoria caused the people of the United States deep and heartfelt sorrow, to which the Government gave full expression. When President McKinley died, our Nation in turn received from every quarter of the British Empire expressions of grief and sympathy no less sincere. The death of the Empress Dowager Frederick of Germany also aroused the genuine sympathy of the American people; and this sympathy was cordially reciprocated by Germany when the President was assassinated. Indeed, from every quarter of the civilized world we received, at the time of the President's death, assurances of such grief and regard as to touch the hearts of our people. In the midst of our affliction we reverently thank the Almighty that we are at peace with the nations of mankind; and we firmly intend that our policy shall be such as to continue unbroken these international relations of mutual respect and good will. "
[114] "<p> The reports of the several Executive Departments are submitted to the Congress with this communication. "
[115] "<p> By the provisions of the treaty the United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama. There is granted to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation, and control of a strip ten miles wide and extending three nautical miles into the sea at either terminal, with all lands lying outside of the zone necessary for the construction of the canal or for its auxiliary works, and with the islands in the Bay of Panama. The cities of Panama and Colon are not embraced in the canal zone, but the United States assumes their sanitation and, in case of need, the maintenance of order therein; the United States enjoys within the granted limits all the rights, power, and authority which it would possess were it the sovereign of the territory to the exclusion of the exercise of sovereign rights by the Republic. All railway and canal property rights belonging to Panama and needed for the canal pass to the United States, including any property of the respective companies in the cities of Panama and Colon; the works, property, and personnel of the canal and railways are exempted from taxation as well in the cities of Panama and Colon as in the canal zone and its dependencies. Free immigration of the personnel and importation of supplies for the construction and operation of the canal are granted. Provision is made for the use of military force and the building of fortifications by the United States for the protection of the transit. In other details, particularly as to the acquisition of the interests of the New Panama Canal Company and the Panama Railway by the United States and the condemnation of private property for the uses of the canal, the stipulations of the Hay-Herran treaty are closely followed, while the compensation to be given for these enlarged grants remains the same, being ten millions of dollars payable on exchange of ratifications; and, beginning nine years from that date, an annual payment of $250,000 during the life of the convention. "
[116] "<p> Every measure taken concerning the islands should be taken primarily with a view to their advantage. We should certainly give them lower tariff rates on their exports to the United States; if this is not done it will be a wrong to extend our shipping laws to them. I earnestly hope for the immediate enactment into law of the legislation now pending to encourage American capital to seek investment in the islands in railroads, in factories, in plantations, and in lumbering and mining. "
[117] "<p> Suitable provision should be made for the expense of keeping our diplomatic officers more fully informed of what is being done from day to day in the progress of our diplomatic affairs with other countries. The lack of such information, caused by insufficient appropriations available for cable tolls and for clerical and messenger service, frequently puts our officers at a great disadvantage and detracts from their usefulness. The salary list should be readjusted. It does not now correspond either to the importance of the service to be rendered and the degrees of ability and experience required in the different positions, or to the differences in the cost of living. In many cases the salaries are quite inadequate. "
[118] "<p> The Congress has most wisely provided for a National Board for the promotion of rifle practise. Excellent results have already come from this law, but it does not go far enough. Our Regular Army is so small that in any great war we should have to trust mainly to volunteers; and in such event these volunteers should already know how to shoot; for if a soldier has the fighting edge, and ability to take care of himself in the open, his efficiency on the line of battle is almost directly Proportionate to excellence in marksmanship. We should establish shooting galleries in all the large public and military schools, should maintain national target ranges in different parts of the country, and should in every way encourage the formation of rifle clubs throughout all parts of the land. The little Republic of Switzerland offers us an excellent example in all matters connected with building up an efficient citizen soldiery. "
[119] "<p> One of the results of the Pan American Conference at Rio Janeiro in the summer of 1906 has been a great increase in the activity and usefulness of the International Bureau of American Republics. That institution, which includes all the American Republics in its membership and brings all their representatives together, is doing a really valuable work in informing the people of the United States about the other Republics and in making the United States known to them. Its action is now limited by appropriations determined when it was doing a work on a much smaller scale and rendering much less valuable service. I recommend that the contribution of this Government to the expenses of the Bureau be made commensurate with its increased work. "
[120] "<p> Tuesday, December 8, 1908. "
[121] "<p> I have thus, in a message compressed as much as the subjects will permit, referred to many of the legislative needs of the country, with the exceptions already noted. Speaking generally, the country is in a high state of prosperity. There is every reason to believe that we are on the eve of a substantial business expansion, and we have just garnered a harvest unexampled in the market value of our agricultural products. The high prices which such products bring mean great prosperity for the farming community, but on the other hand they mean a very considerably increased burden upon those classes in the community whose yearly compensation does not expand with the improvement in business and the general prosperity. Various reasons are given for the high prices. The proportionate increase in the output of gold, which to-day is the chief medium of exchange and is in some respects a measure of value, furnishes a substantial explanation of at least a part of the increase in prices. The increase in population and the more expensive mode of living of the people, which have not been accompanied by a proportionate increase in acreage production, may furnish a further reason. It is well to note that the increase in the cost of living is not confined to this country, but prevails the world over, and that those who would charge increases in prices to the existing protective tariff must meet the fact that the rise in prices has taken place almost wholly in those products of the factory and farm in respect to which there has been either no increase in the tariff or in many instances a very considerable reduction. "
[122] "<p> Department of Justice - 10,063,576.00 - 9,518,640.00 - 9,962,233.00 - 9,648,237.99 - + 101,343.00 - + 415,338.01 - + 313,995.01 - "
[123] "<p> I wish to renew again my recommendation that all the local offices throughout the country, including collectors of internal revenue, collectors of customs, postmasters of all four classes, immigration commissioners and marshals, should be by law covered into the classified service, the necessity for confirmation by the Senate be removed, and the President and the others, whose time is now taken up in distributing this patronage under the custom that has prevailed since the beginning of the Government in accordance with the recommendation of the Senators and Congressmen of the majority party, should be relieved from this burden. I am confident that such a change would greatly reduce the cost of administering the Government, and that it would add greatly to its efficiency. It would take away the power to use the patronage of the Government for political purposes. When officers are recommended by Senators and Congressmen from political motives and for political services rendered, it is impossible to expect that while in office the appointees will not regard their tenure as more or less dependent upon continued political service for their patrons, and no regulations, however stiff or rigid, will prevent this, because such regulations, in view of the method and motive for selection, are plainly inconsistent and deemed hardly worthy of respect. "
[124] "<p> The construction of the Lincoln Memorial and of a memorial bridge from the base of the Lincoln Monument to Arlington would be an appropriate and symbolic expression of the union of the North and the South at the Capital of the Nation. I urge upon Congress the appointment of a commission to undertake these national improvements, and to submit a plan for their execution; and when the plan has been submitted and approved, and the work carried out, Washington will really become what it ought to be--the most beautiful city in the world. "
[125] "<p> May I not express the very real pleas-are I have experienced in co-operating with this Congress and sharing with it the labors of common service to which it has devoted itself so unreservedly during the past seven months of uncomplaining concentration upon the business of legislation? Surely it is a proper and pertinent part of my report on \"the state of the Union\" to express my admiration for the diligence, the good temper, and the full comprehension of public duty which has already been manifested by both the Houses; and I hope that it may not be deemed an impertinent intrusion of myself into the picture if I say with how much and how constant satisfaction I have availed myself of the privilege of putting my time and energy at their disposal alike in counsel and in action. "
[126] "<p> I close, as I began, by reminding you of the great tasks and duties of peace which challenge our best powers and invite us to build what will last, the tasks to which we can address ourselves now and at all times with free-hearted zest and with all the finest gifts of constructive wisdom we possess. To develop our life and our resources; to supply our own people, and the people of the world as their need arises, from the abundant plenty of our fields and our marts of trade to enrich the commerce of our own States and of the world with the products of our mines, our farms, and our factories, with the creations of our thought and the fruits of our character,-this is what will hold our attention and our enthusiasm steadily, now and in the years to come, as we strive to show in our life as a nation what liberty and the inspirations of an emancipated spirit may do for men and for societies, for individuals, for states, and for mankind. "
[127] "<p> For what we are seeking now, what in my mind is the single thought of this message, is national efficiency and security. We serve a great nation. We should serve it in the spirit of its peculiar genius. It is the genius of common men for self-government, industry, justice, liberty and peace. We should see to it that it lacks no instrument, no facility or vigor of law, to make it sufficient to play its part with energy, safety, and assured success. In this we are no partisans but heralds and prophets of a new age. "
[128] "<p> Inasmuch as this is, gentlemen, probably the last occasion I shall have to address the Sixty-fourth Congress, I hope that you will permit me to say with what genuine pleasure and satisfaction I have co-operated with you in the many measures of constructive policy with which you have enriched the legislative annals of the country. It has been a privilege to labor in such company. I take the liberty of congratulating you upon the completion of a record of rare serviceableness and distinction. "
[129] "<p> I have spoken plainly because this seems to me the time when it is most necessary to speak plainly, in order that all the world may know that, even in the heat and ardor of the struggle and when our whole thought is of carrying the war through to its end, we have not forgotten any ideal or principle for which the name of America has been held in honor among the nations and for which it has been our glory to contend in the great generations that went before us. A supreme moment of history has come. The eyes of the people have been opened and they see. The hand of God is laid upon the nations. He will show them favor, I devoutly believe, only if they rise to the clear heights of His own justice and mercy. "
[130] "<p> May I not hope, Gentlemen of the Congress, that in the delicate tasks I shall have to perform on the other side of the sea, in my efforts truly and faithfully to interpret the principles and purposes of the country we love, I may have the encouragement and the added strength of your united support? I realize the magnitude and difficulty of the duty I am undertaking; I am poignantly aware of its grave responsibilities. I am the servant of the nation. I can have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the common settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall count upon your friendly countenance and encouragement. I shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless will render me available for any counsel or service you may desire of me, and I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shall have to deal. I shall make my absence as brief as possible and shall hope to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven. "
[131] "<p> This is the hour of test and trial for America. By her prowess and strength, and the indomitable courage of her soldiers, she demonstrated her power to vindicate on foreign battlefields her conceptions of liberty and justice. Let not her influence as a mediator between capital and labor be weakened and her own failure to settle matters of purely domestic concern be proclaimed to the world. There are those in this country who threaten direct action to force their will, upon a majority. Russia today, with its blood and terror, is a painful object lesson of the power of minorities. It makes little difference what minority it is; whether capital or labor, or any other class; no sort of privilege will ever be permitted to dominate this country. We are a partnership or nothing that is worth while. We are a democracy, where the majority are the masters, or all the hopes and purposes of the men who founded this government have been defeated and forgotten. In America there is but one way by which great reforms can be accomplished and the relief sought by classes obtained, and that is through the orderly processes of representative government. Those who would propose any other method of reform are enemies of this country. America will not be daunted by threats nor lose her composure or calmness in these distressing times. We can afford, in the midst of this day of passion and unrest, to be self-contained and sure. The instrument of all reform in America is the ballot. The road to economic and social reform in America is the straight road of justice to all classes and conditions of men. Men have but to follow this road to realize the full fruition of their objects and purposes. Let those beware who would take the shorter road of disorder and revolution. The right road is the road of justice and orderly process. "
[132] "<p> I have not so much laid before you a series of recommendations, gentlemen, as sought to utter a confession of faith, of the faith in which I was bred and which it is my solemn purpose to stand by until my last fighting day. I believe this to be the faith of America, the faith of the future, and of all the victories which await national action in the days to come, whether in America or elsewhere. "
[133] "<p> It is easy to believe a world-hope is centered on this Capital City. A most gratifying world-accomplishment is not improbable. "
[134] "<p> After all there is less difference about the part this great Republic shall play in furthering peace and advancing humanity than in the manner of playing it. We ask no one to assume responsibility for us; we assume no responsibility which others must bear for themselves, unless nationality is hopelessly swallowed up in internationalism. "
[135] "<p> The world has had enough of the curse of hatred and selfishness, of destruction and war. It has had enough of the wrongful use of material power. For the healing of the nations there must be good will and charity, confidence and peace. The time has come for a more practical use of moral power, and more reliance upon the principle that right makes its own might. Our authority among the nations must be represented by justice and mercy. It is necessary not only to have faith, but to make sacrifices for our faith. The spiritual forces of the world make all its final determinations. It is with these voices that America should speak. Whenever they declare a righteous purpose there need be no doubt that they will be heard. America has taken her place in the world as a Republic--free, independent, powerful. The best service that can be rendered to humanity is the assurance that this place will be maintained. "
[136] "<p> These are the very foundations of America. On them has been erected a Government of freedom and equality, of justice and mercy, of education and charity. Living under it and supporting it the people have come into great possessions on the material and spiritual sides of life. I want to continue in this direction. I know that the Congress shares with me that desire. I want our institutions to be more and more expressive of these principles. I want the people of all the earth to see in the American flag the symbol of a Government which intends no oppression at home and no aggression abroad, which in the spirit of a common brotherhood provides assistance in time of distress. "
[137] "<p> In all your deliberations you should remember that the purpose of legislation is to translate principles into action. It is an effort to have our country be better by doing better. Because the thoughts and ways of people are firmly fixed and not easily changed, the field within which immediate improvement can be secured is very narrow. Legislation can provide opportunity. Whether it is taken advantage of or not depends upon the people themselves. The Government of the United States has been created by the people. It is solely responsible to them. It will be most successful if it is conducted solely for their benefit. All its efforts would be of little avail unless they brought more justice, more enlightenment, more happiness and prosperity into the home. This means an opportunity to observe religion, secure education, and earn a living under a reign of law and order. It is the growth and improvement of the material and spiritual life of the Nation. We shall not be able to gain these ends merely by our own action. If they come at all, it will be because we have been willing to work in harmony with the abiding purpose of a Divine Providence. "
[138] "<p> We need ideals that can be followed in daily life, that can be translated into terms of the home. We can not expect to be relieved from toil, but we do expect to divest it of degrading conditions. Work is honorable; it is entitled to an honorable recompense. We must strive mightily, but having striven there is a defect in our political and social system if we are not in general rewarded with success. To relieve the land of the burdens that came from the war, to release to the individual more of the fruits of his own industry, to increase his earning capacity and decrease his hours of labor, to enlarge the circle of his vision through good roads and better transportation, to lace before him the opportunity for education both in science and in art, to leave him free to receive the inspiration of religion, all these are ideals which deliver him from the servitude of the body and exalt him to the service of the soul. Through this emancipation from the things that are material, we broaden our dominion over the things that are spiritual. "
[139] "<p> Our country has made much progress. But it has taken, and will continue to take, much effort. Competition will be keen, the temptation to selfishness and arrogance will be severe, the provocations to deal harshly with weaker peoples will be many. All of these are embraced in the opportunity for true greatness. They will be overbalanced by cooperation by generosity, and a spirit of neighborly kindness. The forces of the universe are taking humanity in that direction. In doing good, in walking humbly, in sustaining its own people in ministering to other nations, America will work out its own mighty destiny. "
[140] "<p> The end of government is to keep open the opportunity for a more abundant life. Peace and prosperity are not finalities; they are only methods. It is too easy under their influence for a nation to become selfish and degenerate. This test has come to the United States. Our country has been provided with the resources with which it can enlarge its intellectual, moral, and spiritual life. The issue is in the hands of the people. Our faith in man and God is the justification for the belief in our continuing success. "
[141] "<p> December 3, 1929 "
[142] "<p> December 2, 1930 "
[143] "<p> December 8, 1931 "
[144] "<p> HERBERT HOOVER The White House, December 6, 1932. "
[145] "<p> A final personal word. I know that each of you will appreciate that. I am speaking no mere politeness when I assure you how much I value the fine relationship that we have shared during these months of hard and incessant work. Out of these friendly contacts we are, fortunately, building a strong and permanent tie between the legislative and executive branches of the Government. The letter of the Constitution wisely declared a separation, but the impulse of common purpose declares a union. In this spirit we join once more in serving the American people. "
[146] "<p> It is not empty optimism that moves me to a strong hope in the coming year. We can, if we will, make 1935 a genuine period of good feeling, sustained by a sense of purposeful progress. Beyond the material recovery, I sense a spiritual recovery as well. The people of America are turning as never before to those permanent values that are not limited to the physical objectives of life. There are growing signs of this on every hand. In the face of these spiritual impulses we are sensible of the Divine Providence to which Nations turn now, as always, for guidance and fostering care. "
[147] "<p> \"What great crises teach all men whom the example and counsel of the brave inspire is the lesson: Fear not, view all the tasks of life as sacred, have faith in the triumph of the ideal, give daily all that you have to give, be loyal and rejoice whenever you find yourselves part of a great ideal enterprise. You, at this moment, have the honor to belong to a generation whose lips are touched by fire. You live in a land that now enjoys the blessings of peace. But let nothing human be wholly alien to you. The human race now passes through one of its great crises. New ideas, new issues--a new call for men to carry on the work of righteousness, of charity, of courage, of patience, and of loyalty. . . . However memory bring back this moment to your minds, let it be able to say to you: That was a great moment. It was the beginning of a new era. . . . This world in its crisis called for volunteers, for men of faith in life, of patience in service, of charity and of insight. I responded to the call however I could. I volunteered to give myself to my Master--the cause of humane and brave living. I studied, I loved, I labored, unsparingly and hopefully, to be worthy of my generation.\" "
[148] "<p> In that spirit of endeavor and service I greet the 75th Congress at the beginning of this auspicious New Year. "
[149] "<p> I am sure the Congress of the United States will not let the people down. "
[150] "<p> This generation will \"nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. . . . The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just--a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless.\" "
[151] "<p> May the year 1940 be pointed to by our children as another period when democracy justified its existence as the best instrument of government yet devised by mankind. "
[152] "<p> This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory. "
[153] "<p> No compromise can end that conflict. There never has been--there never can be--successful compromise between good and evil. Only total victory can reward the champions of tolerance, and decency, and freedom, and faith. "
[154] "<p> But, as we face that continuing task, we may know that the state of this Nation is good--the heart of this Nation is sound--the spirit of this Nation is strong--the faith of this Nation is eternal. "
[155] "<p> Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this Nation in its most critical hour--to keep this Nation great--to make this Nation greater in a better world. "
[156] "<p> We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has given us. "
[157] "<p> As printed above, references to tables appearing in the budget document have been omitted. "
[158] "<p> May He give us wisdom to lead the peoples of the world in His ways of peace. "
[159] "<p> This is the hour to rededicate ourselves to the faith in God that gives us confidence as we face the challenge of the years ahead. "
[160] "<p> With that help from Almighty God which we have humbly acknowledged at every turning point in our national life, we shall be able to perform the great tasks which He now sets before us. "
[161] "<p> As we approach the halfway mark of the 20th century, we should ask for continued strength and guidance from that Almighty Power who has placed before us such great opportunities for the good of mankind in the years to come. "
[162] "<p> This is our cause--peace, freedom, justice. We will pursue this cause with determination and humility, asking divine guidance that in all we do we may follow the will of God. "
[163] "<p> 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. "
[164] "<p> May God bless our country and our cause. "
[165] "<p> In this spirit, let us together turn to the great tasks before us. "
[166] "<p> But a government can try, as ours tries, to sense the deepest aspirations of the people, and to express them in political action at home and abroad. So long as action and aspiration humbly and earnestly seek favor in the sight of the Almighty, there is no end to America's forward road; there is no obstacle on it she will not surmount in her march toward a lasting peace in a free and prosperous world. "
[167] "<p> 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. "
[168] "<p> To the attainment of these objectives, I pledge full energies of the Administration, as in the Session ahead, it works on a program for submission to you, the Congress of the United States. "
[169] "<p> To achieve a more perfect fidelity to it, I submit, is a worthy ambition as we meet together in these first days of this, the first session of the 85th Congress. "
[170] "<p> I am fully confident that the response of the Congress and of the American people will make this time of test a time of honor. Mankind then will see more clearly than ever that the future belongs, not to the concept of the regimented atheistic state, but to the people--the God-fearing, peace-loving people of all the world. "
[171] "<p> If we make ourselves worthy of America's ideals, if we do not forget that our nation was founded on the premise that all men are creatures of God's making, the world will come to know that it is free men who carry forward the true promise of human progress and dignity. "
[172] "<p> So dedicated, and with faith in the Almighty, humanity shall one day achieve the unity in freedom to which all men have aspired from the dawn of time. "
[173] "<p> Our goal always has been to add to the spiritual, moral, and material strength of our nation. I believe we have done this. But it is a process that must never end. Let us pray that leaders of both the near and distant future will be able to keep the nation strong and at peace, that they will advance the well-being of all our people, that they will lead us on to still higher moral standards, and that, in achieving these goals, they will maintain a reasonable balance between private and governmental responsibility. "
[174] "<p> In the words of a great President, whose birthday we honor today, closing his final State of the Union Message sixteen years ago, \"We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has given us.\" "
[175] "<p> And in this high endeavor, may God watch over the United States of America. "
[176] "<p> Today we still welcome those winds of change--and we have every reason to believe that our tide is running strong. With thanks to Almighty God for seeing us through a perilous passage, we ask His help anew in guiding the \"Good Ship Union.\" "
[177] "<p> So I ask you now in the Congress and in the country to join with me in expressing and fulfilling that faith in working for a nation, a nation that is free from want and a world that is free from hate--a world of peace and justice, and freedom and abundance, for our time and for all time to come. "
[178] "<p> So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith. "
[179] "<p> Thank you, and goodnight. "
[180] "<p> So with your understanding, I would hope your confidence, and your support, we are going to persist--and we are going to succeed. "
[181] "<p> Thank you and good night. "
[182] "<p> That is what I hope. But I believe that at least it will be said that we tried. "
[183] "<p> May God give us the wisdom, the strength and, above all, the idealism to be worthy of that challenge, so that America can fulfill its destiny of being the world's best hope for liberty, for opportunity, for progress and peace for all peoples. "
[184] "<p> My colleagues in the Congress, these are great goals. They can make the sessions of this Congress a great moment for America. So let us pledge together to go forward together--by achieving these goals to give America the foundation today for a new greatness tomorrow and in all the years to come, and in so doing to make this the greatest Congress in the history of this great and good country. "
[185] "<p> That is why my call upon the Congress today is for a high statesmanship, so that in the years to come Americans will look back and say because it withstood the intense pressures of a political year, and achieved such great good for the American people and for the future of this Nation, this was truly a great Congress. "
[186] "<p> February 2, 1973. "
[187] "<p> But my colleagues, this I believe: With the help of God, who has blessed this land so richly, with the cooperation of the Congress, and with the support of the American people, we can and we will make the year 1974 a year of unprecedented progress toward our goal of building a structure of lasting peace in the world and a new prosperity without war in the United States of America. "
[188] "<p> Thank you. "
[189] "<p> Let us engrave it now in each of our hearts as we begin our Bicentennial. "
[190] "<p> Good night. God bless you. "
[191] "<p> Thank you very much. "
[192] "<p> Thank you very much. "
[193] "<p> Thank you very much. "
[194] "<p> We must move together into this decade with the strength which comes from realization of the dangers before us and from the confidence that together we can overcome them. The White House, January 16, 1981. "
[195] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[196] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:03 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[197] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:02 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[198] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:05 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[199] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 8:04 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[200] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:03 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Jim Wright, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[201] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:07 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Jim Wright, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[202] "<p> Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America. "
[203] "<p> God bless all of you. And may God bless this great nation, the United States of America. "
[204] "<p> May God bless the United States of America. "
[205] "<p> And maybe for a moment it's good to remember what, in the dailyness of our lives, we forget. We are still and ever the freest nation on Earth, the kindest nation on Earth, the strongest nation on Earth. And we have always risen to the occasion. And we are going to lift this nation out of hard times inch by inch and day by day, and those who would stop us better step aside. Because I look at hard times and I make this vow: This will not stand. And so we move on, together, a rising nation, the once and future miracle that is still, this night, the hope of the world. "
[206] "<p> Thank you. God bless America. "
[207] "<p> Thank you and God Bless America. "
[208] "<p> This is a very, very great country and our best days are still to come. Thank you and God bless you all. "
[209] "<p> Thank you, God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. "
[210] "<p> Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America. "
[211] "<p> God bless you, and God bless the United States. "
[212] "<p> Thank you, and good evening. "
[213] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. "
[214] "<p> GEORGE W. BUSH. THE WHITE HOUSE, February 27, 2001. "
[215] "<p> GEORGE W. BUSH. THE WHITE HOUSE, September 20, 2001. "
[216] "<p> Thank you all. May God bless. "
[217] "<p> May He guide us now. And may God continue to bless the United States of America. "
[218] "<p> May God continue to bless America. "
[219] "<p> Thank you, and may God bless America. "
[220] "<p> [Applause, the Members rising.] "
[221] "<p> [Applause, the Members rising.] "
[222] "<p> By trusting the people, our Founders wagered that a great and noble nation could be built on the liberty that resides in the hearts of all men and women. By trusting the people, succeeding generations transformed our fragile young democracy into the most powerful nation on earth and a beacon of hope for millions. And so long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the State of our Union will remain strong. So tonight, with confidence in freedoms power, and trust in the people, let us set forth to do their business. "
[223] "<p> And if we do -- if we come together and lift this nation from the depths of this crisis; if we put our people back to work and restart the engine of our prosperity; if we confront without fear the challenges of our time and summon that enduring spirit of an America that does not quit, then someday years from now our children can tell their children that this was the time when we performed, in the words that are carved into this very chamber, \"something worthy to be remembered.\" Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America. "
[224] "<p> Thank you. God Bless You. And God Bless the United States of America. "
[225] "<p> Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. "
[226] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. "
[227] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. "
[228] "<p> Steve's right. That's why, tonight, I ask every American who knows someone without health insurance to help them get covered by March 31st. Moms, get on your kids to sign up. Kids, call your mom and walk her through the application. It will give her some peace of mind plus, she'll appreciate hearing from you. After all, that's the spirit that has always moved this nation forward. It's the spirit of citizenship the recognition that through hard work and responsibility, we can pursue our individual dreams, but still come together as one American family to make sure the next generation can pursue its dreams as well. Citizenship means standing up for everyone's right to vote. Last year, part of the Voting Rights Act was weakened. But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are working together to strengthen it; and the bipartisan commission I appointed last year has offered reforms so that no one has to wait more than a half hour to vote. Let's support these efforts. It should be the power of our vote, not the size of our bank account, that drives our democracy. Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say \"we are not afraid,\" and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook. Citizenship demands a sense of common cause; participation in the hard work of self-government; an obligation to serve to our communities. And I know this chamber agrees that few Americans give more to their country than our diplomats and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. Tonight, because of the extraordinary troops and civilians who risk and lay down their lives to keep us free, the United States is more secure. When I took office, nearly 180,000 Americans were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, all our troops are out of Iraq. More than 60,000 of our troops have already come home from Afghanistan. With Afghan forces now in the lead for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role. Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end of this year, and America's longest war will finally be over. After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future. If the Afghan government signs a security agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of Americans could remain in Afghanistan with NATO allies to carry out two narrow missions: training and assisting Afghan forces, and counterterrorism operations to pursue any remnants of al Qaeda. For while our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not: our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country. The fact is, that danger remains. While we have put al Qaeda's core leadership on a path to defeat, the threat has evolved, as al Qaeda affiliates and other extremists take root in different parts of the world. In Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Mali, we have to keep working with partners to disrupt and disable these networks. In Syria, we'll support the opposition that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks. Here at home, we'll keep strengthening our defenses, and combat new threats like cyberattacks. And as we reform our defense budget, we have to keep faith with our men and women in uniform, and invest in the capabilities they need to succeed in future missions. We have to remain vigilant. But I strongly believe our leadership and our security cannot depend on our military alone. As Commander-in-Chief, I have used force when needed to protect the American people, and I will never hesitate to do so as long as I hold this office. But I will not send our troops into harm's way unless it's truly necessary; nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts. We must fight the battles that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us large-scale deployments that drain our strength and may ultimately feed extremism. So, even as we aggressively pursue terrorist networks through more targeted efforts and by building the capacity of our foreign partners America must move off a permanent war footing. That's why I've imposed prudent limits on the use of drones for we will not be safer if people abroad believe we strike within their countries without regard for the consequence. That's why, working with this Congress, I will reform our surveillance programs because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated. And with the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay because we counter terrorism not just through intelligence and military action, but by remaining true to our Constitutional ideals, and setting an example for the rest of the world. You see, in a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power including strong and principled diplomacy. American diplomacy has rallied more than fifty countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands, and allowed us to reduce our own reliance on Cold War stockpiles. American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria's chemical weapons are being eliminated, and we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear. As we speak, American diplomacy is supporting Israelis and Palestinians as they engage in difficult but necessary talks to end the conflict there; to achieve dignity and an independent state for Palestinians, and lasting peace and security for the State of Israel a Jewish state that knows America will always be at their side. And it is American diplomacy, backed by pressure, that has halted the progress of Iran's nuclear program and rolled parts of that program back for the very first time in a decade. As we gather here tonight, Iran has begun to eliminate its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium. It is not installing advanced centrifuges. Unprecedented inspections help the world verify, every day, that Iran is not building a bomb. And with our allies and partners, we're engaged in negotiations to see if we can peacefully achieve a goal we all share: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. These negotiations will be difficult. They may not succeed. We are clear-eyed about Iran's support for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, which threaten our allies; and the mistrust between our nations cannot be wished away. But these negotiations do not rely on trust; any long-term deal we agree to must be based on verifiable action that convinces us and the international community that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today. The sanctions that we put in place helped make this opportunity possible. But let me be clear: if this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it. For the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed. If Iran's leaders do not seize this opportunity, then I will be the first to call for more sanctions, and stand ready to exercise all options to make sure Iran does not build a nuclear weapon. But if Iran's leaders do seize the chance, then Iran could take an important step to rejoin the community of nations, and we will have resolved one of the leading security challenges of our time without the risks of war. Finally, let's remember that our leadership is defined not just by our defense against threats, but by the enormous opportunities to do good and promote understanding around the globe to forge greater cooperation, to expand new markets, to free people from fear and want. And no one is better positioned to take advantage of those opportunities than America. Our alliance with Europe remains the strongest the world has ever known. From Tunisia to Burma, we're supporting those who are willing to do the hard work of building democracy. In Ukraine, we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely and peacefully, and have a say in their country's future. Across Africa, we're bringing together businesses and governments to double access to electricity and help end extreme poverty. In the Americas, we are building new ties of commerce, but we're also expanding cultural and educational exchanges among young people. And we will continue to focus on the Asia-Pacific, where we support our allies, shape a future of greater security and prosperity, and extend a hand to those devastated by disaster as we did in the Philippines, when our Marines and civilians rushed to aid those battered by a typhoon, and were greeted with words like, \"We will never forget your kindness\" and \"God bless America!\" We do these things because they help promote our long-term security. And we do them because we believe in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation. And next week, the world will see one expression of that commitment when Team USA marches the red, white, and blue into the Olympic Stadium and brings home the gold. My fellow Americans, no other country in the world does what we do. On every issue, the world turns to us, not simply because of the size of our economy or our military might but because of the ideals we stand for, and the burdens we bear to advance them. No one knows this better than those who serve in uniform. As this time of war draws to a close, a new generation of heroes returns to civilian life. We'll keep slashing that backlog so our veterans receive the benefits they've earned, and our wounded warriors receive the health care including the mental health care that they need. We'll keep working to help all our veterans translate their skills and leadership into jobs here at home. And we all continue to join forces to honor and support our remarkable military families. Let me tell you about one of those families I've come to know. I first met Cory Remsburg, a proud Army Ranger, at Omaha Beach on the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Along with some of his fellow Rangers, he walked me through the program a strong, impressive young man, with an easy manner, sharp as a tack. We joked around, and took pictures, and I told him to stay in touch. A few months later, on his tenth deployment, Cory was nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan. His comrades found him in a canal, face down, underwater, shrapnel in his brain. For months, he lay in a coma. The next time I met him, in the hospital, he couldn't speak; he could barely move. Over the years, he's endured dozens of surgeries and procedures, and hours of grueling rehab every day. Even now, Cory is still blind in one eye. He still struggles on his left side. But slowly, steadily, with the support of caregivers like his dad Craig, and the community around him, Cory has grown stronger. Day by day, he's learned to speak again and stand again and walk again and he's working toward the day when he can serve his country again. \"My recovery has not been easy,\" he says. \"Nothing in life that's worth anything is easy.\" Cory is here tonight. And like the Army he loves, like the America he serves, Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg never gives up, and he does not quit. My fellow Americans, men and women like Cory remind us that America has never come easy. Our freedom, our democracy, has never been easy. Sometimes we stumble; we make mistakes; we get frustrated or discouraged. But for more than two hundred years, we have put those things aside and placed our collective shoulder to the wheel of progress to create and build and expand the possibilities of individual achievement; to free other nations from tyranny and fear; to promote justice, and fairness, and equality under the law, so that the words set to paper by our founders are made real for every citizen. The America we want for our kids a rising America where honest work is plentiful and communities are strong; where prosperity is widely shared and opportunity for all lets us go as far as our dreams and toil will take us none of it is easy. But if we work together; if we summon what is best in us, with our feet planted firmly in today but our eyes cast towards tomorrow I know it's within our reach. Believe it. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. "
[229] "<p> Thank you. God bless you. God bless this country we love. Thank you. "
[230] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. "
[231] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States. "
[232] "<p> THE WHITE HOUSE, January 30, 2018. "
[233] "<p> Thank you. God bless you, God bless America, and good night!" As you can see, the last paragraph is sometimes the speaker’s name, sometimes a full paragraph of text, sometimes a note of what happened “[Applause, the Members rising],” and sometimes a sign-off, like “God bless the United States.” What we want is an indication of whether the last paragraph is a real paragraph or not.
use_last <- !(str_detect(last_par, "<p>[ A-Z\\.]+$") |
str_detect(last_par, "<p> [A-Z][A-Z]") |
str_detect(last_par, "<p> \\[") |
str_detect(last_par, "<p> [A-Z][a-z]+ [0-9]+, [1,2][0-9][0-9][0-9]") |
str_detect(last_par, "<p> .+day, [A-Z][a-z]+ [0-9]+, [1,2][0-9][0-9][0-9]"))Check to see that use_last correctly identifies real last paragraphs.
last_par[use_last] [1] "<p> The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed, and I shall derive great satisfaction from a cooperation with you in the pleasing though arduous task of insuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect from a free, efficient, and equal government. "
[2] "<p> In all such measures you may rely on my zealous and hearty concurrence. "
[3] "<p> I can not close this address without once more adverting to our political situation and inculcating the essential importance of uniting in the maintenance of our dearest interests; and I trust that by the temper and wisdom of your proceedings and by a harmony of measures we shall secure to our country that weight and respect to which it is so justly entitled. "
[4] "<p> At a period like the present, when momentous changes are occurring and every hour is preparing new and great events in the political world, when a spirit of war is prevalent in almost every nation with whose affairs the interests of the United States have any connection, unsafe and precarious would be our situation were we to neglect the means of maintaining our just rights. The result of the mission to France is uncertain; but however it may terminate, a steady perseverance in a system of national defense commensurate with our resources and the situation of our country is an obvious dictate of wisdom; for, remotely as we are placed from the belligerent nations, and desirous as we are, by doing justice to all, to avoid offense to any, nothing short of the power of repelling aggressions will secure to our country a rational prospect of escaping the calamities of war or national degradation. As to myself, it is my anxious desire so to execute the trust reposed in me as to render the people of the United States prosperous and happy. I rely with entire confidence on your cooperation in objects equally your care, and that our mutual labors will serve to increase and confirm union among our fellow citizens and an unshaken attachment to our Government. "
[5] "<p> To your patriotism, gentlemen, has been confided the honorable duty of guarding the public interests; and while the past is to your country a sure pledge that it will be faithfully discharged, permit me to assure you that your labors to promote the general happiness will receive from me the most zealous cooperation. "
[6] "<p> The prudence and temperance of your discussions will promote within your own walls that conciliation which so much befriends rational conclusion, and by its example will encourage among our constituents that progress of opinion which is tending to unite them in object and in will. That all should be satisfied with any one order of things is not to be expected; but I indulge the pleasing persuasion that the great body of our citizens will cordially concur in honest and disinterested efforts which have for their object to preserve the General and State Governments in their constitutional form and equilibrium; to maintain peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at home; to establish principles and practices of administration favorable to the security of liberty and property, and to reduce expenses to what is necessary for the useful purposes of Government. "
[7] "<p> Recollecting always that for every advantage which may contribute to distinguish our lot from that to which others are doomed by the unhappy spirit of the times we are indebted to that Divine Providence whose goodness has been so remarkably extended to this rising nation, it becomes us to cherish a devout gratitude, and to implore from the same omnipotent source a blessing on the consultations and measures about to be undertaken for the welfare of our beloved country. "
[8] "<p> Reserving for future occasions in the course of the session whatever other communications may claim your attention, I close the present by expressing my reliance, under the blessing of Divine Providence, on the judgement and patriotism which will guide your measures at a period particularly calling for united councils and flexible exertions for the welfare of our country, and by assuring you of the fidelity and alacrity with which my cooperation will be afforded. "
[9] "<p> I can not close this communication without expressing my deep sense of the crisis in which you are assembled, my confidence in a wise and honorable result to your deliberations, and assurances of the faithful zeal with which my cooperating duties will be discharged, invoking at the same time the blessing of Heaven on our beloved country and on all the means that may be employed in vindicating its rights and advancing its welfare. "
[10] "<p> It remains only that, faithful to ourselves, entangled in no connections with the views of other powers, and ever ready to accept peace from the hand of justice, we prosecute the war with united counsels and with the ample faculties of the nation until peace be so obtained and as the only means under the Divine blessing of speedily obtaining it. "
[11] "<p> In fine, the war, with all its vicissitudes, is illustrating the capacity and the destiny of the United States to be a great, a flourishing, and a powerful nation, worthy of the friendship which it is disposed to cultivate with all others, and authorized by its own example to require from all an observance of the laws of justice and reciprocity. Beyond these their claims have never extended, and in contending for these we behold a subject for our congratulations in the daily testimonies of increasing harmony throughout the nation, and may humbly repose our trust in the smiles of Heaven on so righteous a cause. "
[12] "<p> Having forborne to declare war until to other aggressions had been added the capture of near one thousand American vessels and the impressment of thousands of American sea faring citizens, and until a final declaration had been made by the Government of Great Britain that her hostile orders against our commerce would not be revoked but on conditions as impossible as unjust, whilst it was known that these orders would not otherwise cease but with a war which had lasted nearly twenty years, and which, according to appearances at that time, might last as many more; having manifested on every occasion and in every proper mode a sincere desire to arrest the effusion of blood and meet our enemy on the ground of justice and reconciliation, our beloved country, in still opposing to his persevering hostility all its energies, with an undiminished disposition toward peace and friendship on honorable terms, must carry with it the good wishes of the impartial world and the best hopes of support from an omnipotent and kind Providence. "
[13] "<p> In all measures having such objects my faithful cooperation will be afforded. "
[14] "<p> These contemplations, sweetening the remnant of my days, will animate my prayers for the happiness of my beloved country, and a perpetuity of the institutions under which it is enjoyed. "
[15] "<p> In this instance we have the satisfaction to know that they were imposed when the demand was imperious, and have been sustained with exemplary fidelity. I have to add that however gratifying it may be to me regarding the prosperous and happy condition of our country to recommend the repeal of these taxes at this time, I shall nevertheless be attentive to events, and, should any future emergency occur, be not less prompt to suggest such measures and burdens as may then be requisite and proper. "
[16] "<p> When we view the great blessings with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow. Let us, then, unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings to the Divine Author of All Good. "
[17] "<p> In the execution of the duty imposed by these acts, and of a high trust connected with it, it is with deep regret I have to state the loss which has been sustained by the death of Commodore Perry. His gallantry in a brilliant exploit in the late war added to the renown of his country. His death is deplored as a national misfortune. "
[18] "<p> Our peace with the powers on the coast of Barbary has been preserved, but we owe it altogether to the presence of our squadron in the Mediterranean. It has been found equally necessary to employ some of our vessels for the protection of our commerce in the Indian Sea, the Pacific, and along the Atlantic coast. The interests which we have depending in those quarters, which have been much improved of late, are of great extent and of high importance to the nation as well as to the parties concerned, and would undoubtedly suffer if such protection was not extended to them. In execution of the law of the last session for the suppression of the slave trade some of our public ships have also been employed on the coast of Africa, where several captures have already been made of vessels engaged in that disgraceful traffic. "
[19] "<p> Deeply impressed with the blessings which we enjoy, and of which we have such manifold proofs, my mind is irresistibly drawn to that Almighty Being, the great source from whence they proceed and to whom our most grateful acknowledgments are due. "
[20] "<p> It has been often charged against free governments that they have neither the foresight nor the virtue to provide at the proper season for great emergencies; that their course is improvident and expensive; that war will always find them unprepared, and, whatever may be its calamities, that its terrible warnings will be disregarded and forgotten as soon as peace returns. I have full confidence that this charge so far as relates to the United States will be shewn to be utterly destitute of truth. "
[21] "<p> It is unnecessary to treat here of the vast improvement made in the system itself by the adoption of this Constitution and of its happy effect in elevating the character and in protecting the rights of the nation as well as individuals. To what, then, do we owe these blessings? It is known to all that we derive them from the excellence of our institutions. Ought we not, then, to adopt every measure which may be necessary to perpetuate them? "
[22] "<p> I can not conclude this communication, the last of the kind which I shall have to make, without recollecting with great sensibility and heart felt gratitude the many instances of the public confidence and the generous support which I have received from my fellow citizens in the various trusts with which I have been honored. Having commenced my service in early youth, and continued it since with few and short intervals, I have witnessed the great difficulties to which our Union has been surmounted. From the present prosperous and happy state I derive a gratification which I can not express. That these blessings may be preserved and perpetuated will be the object of my fervent and unceasing prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. "
[23] "<p> I now commend you, fellow citizens, to the guidance of Almighty God, with a full reliance on His merciful providence for the maintenance of our free institutions, and with an earnest supplication that what ever errors it may be my lot to commit in discharging the arduous duties which have devolved on me will find a remedy in the harmony and wisdom of your counsels. "
[24] "<p> In conclusion, fellow citizens, allow me to invoke in behalf of your deliberations that spirit of conciliation and disinterestedness which is the gift of patriotism. Under an over-ruling and merciful Providence the agency of this spirit has thus far been signalized in the prosperity and glory of our beloved country. May its influence be eternal. "
[25] "<p> In conclusion permit me to invoke that Power which superintends all governments to infuse into your deliberations at this important crisis of our history a spirit of mutual forbearance and conciliation. In that spirit was our Union formed, and in that spirit must it be preserved. "
[26] "<p> Limited to a general superintending power to maintain peace at home and abroad, and to prescribe laws on a few subjects of general interest not calculated to restrict human liberty, but to enforce human rights, this Government will find its strength and its glory in the faithful discharge of these plain and simple duties. Relieved by its protecting shield from the fear of war and the apprehension of oppression, the free enterprise of our citizens, aided by the State sovereignties, will work out improvements and ameliorations which can not fail to demonstrate that the great truth that the people can govern themselves is not only realized in our example, but that it is done by a machinery in government so simple and economical as scarcely to be felt. That the Almighty Ruler of the Universe may so direct our deliberations and over-rule our acts as to make us instrumental in securing a result so dear to mankind is my most earnest and sincere prayer. "
[27] "<p> Trusting that your deliberations on all the topics of general interest to which I have adverted, and such others as your more extensive knowledge of the wants of our beloved country may suggest, may be crowned with success, I tender you in conclusion the cooperation which it may be in my power to afford them. "
[28] "<p> I am not hostile to internal improvements, and wish to see them extended to every part of the country. But I am fully persuaded, if they are not commenced in a proper manner, confined to proper objects, and conducted under an authority generally conceded to be rightful, that a successful prosecution of them can not be reasonably expected. The attempt will meet with resistance where it might otherwise receive support, and instead of strengthening the bonds of our Confederacy it will only multiply and aggravate the causes of disunion. "
[29] "<p> I am gratified in being able to inform you that no occurrence has required any movement of the military force, except such as is common to a state of peace. The services of the Army have been limited to their usual duties at the various garrisons upon the Atlantic and in-land frontier, with the exceptions states by the Secretary of War. Our small military establishment appears to be adequate to the purposes for which it is maintained, and it forms a nucleus around which any additional force may be collected should the public exigencies unfortunately require any increase of our military means. "
[30] "<p> Having now finished the observations deemed proper on this the last occasion I shall have of communicating with the two Houses of Congress at their meeting, I can not omit an expression of the gratitude which is due to the great body of my fellow citizens, in whose partiality and indulgence I have found encouragement and support in the many difficult and trying scenes through which it has been my lot to pass during my public career. Though deeply sensible that my exertions have not been crowned with a success corresponding to the degree of favor bestowed upon me, I am sure that they will be considered as having been directed by an earnest desire to promote the good of my country, and I am consoled by the persuasion that what ever errors have been committed will find a corrective in the intelligence and patriotism of those who will succeed us. All that has occurred during my Administration is calculated to inspire me with increased confidence in the stability of our institutions; and should I be spared to enter upon that retirement which is so suitable to my age and infirm health and so much desired by me in other respects, I shall not cease to invoke that beneficent Being to whose providence we are already so signally indebted for the continuance of His blessings on our beloved country. "
[31] "<p> Your attention has heretofore been frequently called to the affairs of the District of Columbia, and I should not again ask it did not their entire dependence on Congress give them a constant claim upon its notice. Separated by the Constitution from the rest of the Union, limited in extent, and aided by no legislature of its own, it would seem to be a spot where a wise and uniform system of local government might have been easily adopted. This District has, however, unfortunately been left to linger behind the rest of the Union. Its codes, civil and criminal, are not only very defective, but full of obsolete or inconvenient provisions. Being formed of portions of two States, discrepancies in the laws prevail in different parts of the territory, small as it is; and although it was selected as the seat of the General Government, the site of its public edifices, the depository of its archives, and the residence of officers intrusted with large amounts of public property and the management of public business, yet it has never been subjected to or received that special and comprehensive legislation which these circumstances peculiarly demand. I am well aware of the various subjects of greater magnitude and immediate interest that press themselves on the consideration of Congress, but I believe there is not one that appeals more directly to its justice than a liberal and even generous attention to the interests of the District of Columbia and a thorough and careful revision of its local government. M. VAN BUREN "
[32] "<p> In conclusion I commend to your care the interests of this District, for which you are the exclusive legislators. Considering that this city is the residence of the Government and for a large part of the year of Congress, and considering also the great cost of the public buildings and the propriety of affording them at all times careful protection, it seems not unreasonable that Congress should contribute toward the expense of an efficient police. "
[33] "<p> I have thus, fellow-citizens, acquitted myself of my duty under the Constitution by laying before you as succinctly as I have been able the state of the Union and by inviting your attention to measures of much importance to the country. The executive will most zealously unite its efforts with those of the legislative department in the accomplishment of all that is required to relieve the wants of a common constituency or elevate the destinies of a beloved country. "
[34] "<p> In this condition of things I have felt it to be my duty to bring to your favorable consideration matters of great interest in their present and ultimate results; and the only desire which I feel in connection with the future is and will continue to be to leave the country prosperous and its institutions unimpaired. "
[35] "<p> I have thus, gentlemen of the two Houses of Congress, presented you a true and faithful picture of the condition of public affairs, both foreign and domestic. The wants of the public service are made known to you, and matters of no ordinary importance are urged upon your consideration. Shall I not be permitted to congratulate you on the happy auspices under which you have assembled and at the important change in the condition of things which has occurred in the last three years? During that period questions with foreign powers of vital importance to the peace of our country have been settled and adjusted. A desolating and wasting war with savage tribes has been brought to a close. The internal tranquillity of the country, threatened by agitating questions, has been preserved. The credit of the Government, which had experienced a temporary embarrassment, has been thoroughly restored. Its coffers, which for a season were empty, have been replenished. A currency nearly uniform in its value has taken the place of one depreciated and almost worthless. Commerce and manufactures, which had suffered in common with every other interest, have once more revived, and the whole country exhibits an aspect of prosperity and happiness. Trade and barter, no longer governed by a wild and speculative mania, rest upon a solid and substantial footing, and the rapid growth of our cities in every direction bespeaks most strongly the favorable circumstances by which we are surrounded. My happiness in the retirement which shortly awaits me is the ardent hope which I experience that this state of prosperity is neither deceptive nor destined to be short lived, and that measures which have not yet received its sanction, but which I can not but regard as closely connected with the honor, the glory, and still more enlarged prosperity of the country, are destined at an early day to receive the approval of Congress. Under these circumstances and with these anticipations I shall most gladly leave to others more able than myself the noble and pleasing task of sustaining the public prosperity. I shall carry with me into retirement the gratifying reflection that as my sole object throughout has been to advance the public good I may not entirely have failed in accomplishing it; and this gratification is heightened in no small degree by the fact that when under a deep and abiding sense of duty I have found myself constrained to resort to the qualified veto it has neither been followed by disapproval on the part of the people nor weakened in any degree their attachment to that great conservative feature of our Government. "
[36] "<p> Our liberties, religions and civil, have been maintained, the fountains of knowledge have all been kept open, and means of happiness widely spread and generally enjoyed greater than have fallen to the lot of any other nation. And while deeply penetrated with gratitude for the past, let us hope that His all-wise providence will so guide our counsels as that they shall result in giving satisfaction to our constituents, securing the peace of the country, and adding new strength to the united Government under which we live. "
[37] "<p> In my last annual message I stated that I considered the series of measures which had been adopted at the previous session in reference to the agitation growing out of the Territorial and slavery questions as a final settlement in principle and substance of the dangerous and exciting subjects which they embraced, and I recommended adherence to the adjustment established by those measures until time and experience should demonstrate the necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse. I was not induced to make this recommendation because I thought those measures perfect, for no human legislation can be perfect. Wide differences and jarring opinions can only be reconciled by yielding something on all sides, and this result had been reached after an angry conflict of many months, in which one part of the country was arrayed against another, and violent convulsion seemed to be imminent. Looking at the interests of the whole country, I felt it to be my duty to seize upon this compromise as the best that could be obtained amid conflicting interests and to insist upon it as a final settlement, to be adhered to by all who value the peace and welfare of the country. A year has now elapsed since that recommendation was made. To that recommendation I still adhere, and I congratulate you and the country upon the general acquiescence in these measures of peace which has been exhibited in all parts of the Republic. And not only is there this general acquiescence in these measures, but the spirit of conciliation which has been manifested in regard to them in all parts of the country has removed doubts and uncertainties in the minds of thousands of good men concerning the durability of our popular institutions and given renewed assurance that our liberty and our Union may subsist together for the benefit of this and all succeeding generations. "
[38] "<p> We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the happy Constitution and Government which were bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit in all their integrity to our children. We must all consider it a great distinction and privilege to have been chosen by the people to bear a part in the administration of such a Government. Called by an unexpected dispensation to its highest trust at a season of embarrassment and alarm, I entered upon its arduous duties with extreme diffidence. I claim only to have discharged them to the best of an humble ability, with a single eye to the public good, and it is with devout gratitude in retiring from office that I leave the country in a state of peace and prosperity. "
[39] "<p> In compliance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1853, the oath of office was administered to him on the 24th of that month at Ariadne estate, near Matanzas, in the island of Cuba; but his strength gradually declined, and was hardly sufficient to enable him to return to his home in Alabama, where, on the 18th day of April, in the most calm and peaceful way, his long and eminently useful career was terminated. Entertaining unlimited confidence in your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the public interest, and being conscious of no motives on my part which are not inseparable from the honor and advancement of my country, I hope it may be my privilege to deserve and secure not only your cordial cooperation in great public measures, but also those relations of mutual confidence and regard which it is always so desirable to cultivate between members of coordinate branches of the Government. "
[40] "<p> Under the solemnity of these convictions the blessing of Almighty God is earnestly invoked to attend upon your deliberations and upon all the counsels and acts of the Government, to the end that, with common zeal and common efforts, we may, in humble submission to the divine will, cooperate for the promotion of the supreme good of these United States. "
[41] "<p> Nor is it hostility against their fellow-citizens of one section of the Union alone. The interests, the honor, the duty, the peace, and the prosperity of the people of all sections are equally involved and imperiled in this question. And are patriotic men in any part of the Union prepared on such issue thus madly to invite all the consequences of the forfeiture of their constitutional engagements? It is impossible. The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the Constitution. I shall never doubt it. I know that the Union is stronger a thousand times than all the wild and chimerical schemes of social change which are generated one after another in the unstable minds of visionary sophists and interested agitators. I rely confidently on the patriotism of the people, on the dignity and self-respect of the States, on the wisdom of Congress, and, above all, on the continued gracious favor of Almighty God to maintain against all enemies, whether at home or abroad, the sanctity of the Constitution and the integrity of the Union. "
[42] "<p> I shall prepare to surrender the Executive trust to my successor and retire to private life with sentiments of profound gratitude to the good Providence which during the period of my Administration has vouchsafed to carry the country through many difficulties, domestic and foreign, and which enables me to contemplate the spectacle of amicable and respectful relations between ours and all other governments and the establishment of constitutional order and tranquillity throughout the Union. "
[43] "<p> I can not conclude without commending to your favorable consideration the interest of the people of this District. Without a representative on the floor of Congress, they have for this very reason peculiar claims upon our just regard. To this I know, from my long acquaintance with them, they are eminently entitled. "
[44] "<p> I can not conclude without performing the agreeable duty of expressing my gratification that Congress so kindly responded to the recommendation of my last annual message by affording me sufficient time before the close of their late session for the examination of all the bills presented to me for approval. This change in the practice of Congress has proved to be a wholesome reform. It exerted a beneficial influence on the transaction of legislative business and elicited the general approbation of the country. It enabled Congress to adjourn with that dignity and deliberation so becoming to the representatives of this great Republic, without having crowded into general appropriation bills provisions foreign to their nature and of doubtful constitutionality and expediency. Let me warmly and strongly commend this precedent established by themselves as a guide to their proceedings during the present session. "
[45] "<p> In conclusion I would again commend to the just liberality of Congress the local interests of the District of Columbia. Surely the city bearing the name of Washington, and destined, I trust, for ages to be the capital of our united, free, and prosperous Confederacy, has strong claims on our favorable regard. "
[46] "<p> I cordially commend to your favorable regard the interests of the people of this District. They are eminently entitled to your consideration, especially since, unlike the people of the States, they can appeal to no government except that of the Union. "
[47] "<p> From the first taking of our national census to the last are seventy years, and we find our population at the end of the period eight times as great as it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things which men deem desirable has been even greater. We thus have at one view what the popular principle, applied to Government through the machinery, of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time, and also what if firmly maintained it promises for the future. There are already among us those who if the Union be preserved will live to see it contain 250,000,000. The struggle of to-day is not altogether for to-day; it is for a vast future also. With a reliance on Providence all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task which events have devolved upon us. "
[48] "<p> Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free--honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just--a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless. "
[49] "<p> The movements by State action for emancipation in several of the States not included in the emancipation proclamation are matters of profound gratulation. And while I do not repeat in detail what I have heretofore so earnestly urged upon this subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged; and I trust that Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aiding these important steps to a great consummation. In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not lose sight of the fact that the war power is still our main reliance. To that power alone can we look yet for a time to give confidence to the people in the contested regions that the insurgent power will not again overrun them. Until that confidence shall be established little can be done anywhere for what is called reconstruction. Hence our chiefest care must still be directed to the Army and Navy, who have thus far borne their harder part so nobly and well; and it may be esteemed fortunate that in giving the greatest efficiency to these indispensable arms we do also honorably recognize the gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose them, and to whom more than to others the world must stand indebted for the home of freedom disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and perpetuated. "
[50] "<p> Wisconsin - 152,180 - 148,513 - "
[51] "<p> Where in past history does a parallel exist to the public happiness which is within the reach of the people of the United States? Where in any part of the globe can institutions be found so suited to their habits or so entitled to their love as their own free Constitution? Every one of them, then, in whatever part of the land he has his home, must wish its perpetuity. Who of them will not now acknowledge, in the words of Washington, that \"every step by which the people of the United States have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency\"? Who will not join with me in the prayer that the Invisible Hand which has led us through the clouds that gloomed around our path will so guide us onward to a perfect restoration of fraternal affection that we of this day may be able to transmit our great inheritance of State governments in all their rights, of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, to our posterity, and they to theirs through countless generations? "
[52] "<p> In the performance of a duty imposed upon me by the Constitution I have thus submitted to the representatives of the States and of the people such information of our domestic and foreign affairs as the public interests seem to require. Our Government is now undergoing its most trying ordeal, and my earnest prayer is that the peril may be successfully and finally passed without impairing its original strength and symmetry. The interests of the nation are best to be promoted by the revival of fraternal relations, the complete obliteration of our past differences, and the reinauguration of all the pursuits of peace. Directing our efforts to the early accomplishment of these great ends, let us endeavor to preserve harmony between the coordinate departments of the Government, that each in its proper sphere may cordially cooperate with the other in securing the maintenance of the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the perpetuity of our free institutions. "
[53] "<p> The abuse of our laws by the clandestine prosecution of the African slave trade from American ports or by American citizens has altogether ceased, and under existing circumstances no apprehensions of its renewal in this part of the world are entertained. Under these circumstances it becomes a question whether we shall not propose to Her Majesty's Government a suspension or discontinuance of the stipulations for maintaining a naval force for the suppression of that trade. "
[54] "<p> In the performance of a duty imposed upon me by the Constitution, I have thus communicated to Congress information of the state of the Union and recommended for their consideration such measures as have seemed to me necessary and expedient. If carried into effect, they will hasten the accomplishment of the great and beneficent purposes for which the Constitution was ordained, and which it comprehensively states were \"to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.\" In Congress are vested all legislative powers, and upon them devolves the responsibility as well for framing unwise and excessive laws as for neglecting to devise and adopt measures absolutely demanded by the wants of the country. Let us earnestly hope that before the expiration of our respective terms of service, now rapidly drawing to a close, an all-wise Providence will so guide our counsels as to strengthen and preserve the Federal Unions, inspire reverence for the Constitution, restore prosperity and happiness to our whole people, and promote \"on earth peace, good will toward men.\" "
[55] "<p> From miscellaneous - 412,254.71 - "
[56] "<p> - - "
[57] "<p> Receipts (ordinary, from money-order business and from official postage stamps) - 27,468,323,420 - "
[58] "<p> I also invite the favorable consideration of Congress to the wants of the public schools of this District, as exhibited in the report of the Commissioners. While the number of pupils is rapidly increasing, no adequate provision exists for a corresponding increase of school accommodation, and the Commissioners are without the means to meet this urgent need. A number of the buildings now used for school purposes are rented, and are in important particulars unsuited for the purpose. The cause of popular education in the District of Columbia is surely entitled to the same consideration at the hands of the National Government as in the several States and Territories, to which munificent grants of the public lands have been made for the endowment of schools and universities. "
[59] "<p> From miscellaneous sources - 4,099,603.88 - "
[60] "<p> And to the increase of cash in the Treasury - 14,637,023.93 - "
[61] "<p> Of old demand, compound-interest, and other notes - 18,350.00 - "
[62] "<p> Total expenditures, actual and estimated - 258,000,000.00 - "
[63] "<p> And to my fellow-citizens generally I acknowledge a deep sense of obligation for the support which they have accorded me in my administration of the executive department of this Government. "
[64] "<p> In conclusion I commend to the wise care and thoughtful attention of Congress the needs, the welfare, and the aspirations of an intelligent and generous nation. To subordinate these to the narrow advantages of partisanship or the accomplishment of selfish aims is to violate the people's trust and betray the people's interests; but an individual sense of responsibility on the part of each of us and a stern determination to perform our duty well must give us place among those who have added in their day and generation to the glory and prosperity of our beloved land. "
[65] "<p> In conclusion I earnestly invoke such wise action on the part of the people's legislators as will subserve the public good and demonstrate during the remaining days of the Congress as at present organized its ability and inclination to so meet the people's needs that it shall be gratefully remembered by an expectant constituency. "
[66] "<p> As the law makes no provision for any report from the Department of State, a brief history of the transactions of that important Department, together with other matters which it may hereafter be deemed essential to commend to the attention of the Congress, may furnish the occasion for a future communication. "
[67] "<p> District of Columbia - 2 - "
[68] "<p> I venture again to remind you that the brief time remaining for the consideration of the important legislation now awaiting your attention offers no margin for waste. If the present duty is discharged with diligence, fidelity, and courage, the work of the Fifty-first Congress may be confidently submitted to the considerate judgment of the people. BENJ. HARRISON "
[69] "<p> The estimates of the expenses of the Government by the several Departments will, I am sure, have your careful scrutiny. While the Congress may not find it an easy task to reduce the expenses of the Government, it should not encourage their increase. These expenses will in my judgment admit of a decrease in many branches of the Government without injury to the public service. It is a commanding duty to keep the appropriations within the receipts of the Government, and thus avoid a deficit. "
[70] "<p> The several departmental reports will be laid before you. They give in great detail the conduct of the affairs of the Government during the past year and discuss many questions upon which the Congress may feel called upon to act. "
[71] "<p> Kansas Pacific--dividends for deficiency due United States, cash - 821,897.70 - "
[72] "<p> In our great prosperity we must guard against the danger it invites of extravagance in Government expenditures and appropriations; and the chosen representatives of the people will, I doubt not, furnish an example in their legislation of that wise economy which in a season of plenty husbands for the future. In this era of great business activity and opportunity caution is not untimely. It will not abate, but strengthen, confidence. It will not retard, but promote, legitimate industrial and commercial expansion. Our growing power brings with it temptations and perils requiring constant vigilance to avoid. It must not be used to invite conflicts, nor for oppression, but for the more effective maintenance of those principles of equality and justice upon which our institutions and happiness depend. Let us keep always in mind that the foundation of our Government is liberty; its superstructure peace. "
[73] "<p> The death of Queen Victoria caused the people of the United States deep and heartfelt sorrow, to which the Government gave full expression. When President McKinley died, our Nation in turn received from every quarter of the British Empire expressions of grief and sympathy no less sincere. The death of the Empress Dowager Frederick of Germany also aroused the genuine sympathy of the American people; and this sympathy was cordially reciprocated by Germany when the President was assassinated. Indeed, from every quarter of the civilized world we received, at the time of the President's death, assurances of such grief and regard as to touch the hearts of our people. In the midst of our affliction we reverently thank the Almighty that we are at peace with the nations of mankind; and we firmly intend that our policy shall be such as to continue unbroken these international relations of mutual respect and good will. "
[74] "<p> The reports of the several Executive Departments are submitted to the Congress with this communication. "
[75] "<p> By the provisions of the treaty the United States guarantees and will maintain the independence of the Republic of Panama. There is granted to the United States in perpetuity the use, occupation, and control of a strip ten miles wide and extending three nautical miles into the sea at either terminal, with all lands lying outside of the zone necessary for the construction of the canal or for its auxiliary works, and with the islands in the Bay of Panama. The cities of Panama and Colon are not embraced in the canal zone, but the United States assumes their sanitation and, in case of need, the maintenance of order therein; the United States enjoys within the granted limits all the rights, power, and authority which it would possess were it the sovereign of the territory to the exclusion of the exercise of sovereign rights by the Republic. All railway and canal property rights belonging to Panama and needed for the canal pass to the United States, including any property of the respective companies in the cities of Panama and Colon; the works, property, and personnel of the canal and railways are exempted from taxation as well in the cities of Panama and Colon as in the canal zone and its dependencies. Free immigration of the personnel and importation of supplies for the construction and operation of the canal are granted. Provision is made for the use of military force and the building of fortifications by the United States for the protection of the transit. In other details, particularly as to the acquisition of the interests of the New Panama Canal Company and the Panama Railway by the United States and the condemnation of private property for the uses of the canal, the stipulations of the Hay-Herran treaty are closely followed, while the compensation to be given for these enlarged grants remains the same, being ten millions of dollars payable on exchange of ratifications; and, beginning nine years from that date, an annual payment of $250,000 during the life of the convention. "
[76] "<p> Every measure taken concerning the islands should be taken primarily with a view to their advantage. We should certainly give them lower tariff rates on their exports to the United States; if this is not done it will be a wrong to extend our shipping laws to them. I earnestly hope for the immediate enactment into law of the legislation now pending to encourage American capital to seek investment in the islands in railroads, in factories, in plantations, and in lumbering and mining. "
[77] "<p> Suitable provision should be made for the expense of keeping our diplomatic officers more fully informed of what is being done from day to day in the progress of our diplomatic affairs with other countries. The lack of such information, caused by insufficient appropriations available for cable tolls and for clerical and messenger service, frequently puts our officers at a great disadvantage and detracts from their usefulness. The salary list should be readjusted. It does not now correspond either to the importance of the service to be rendered and the degrees of ability and experience required in the different positions, or to the differences in the cost of living. In many cases the salaries are quite inadequate. "
[78] "<p> The Congress has most wisely provided for a National Board for the promotion of rifle practise. Excellent results have already come from this law, but it does not go far enough. Our Regular Army is so small that in any great war we should have to trust mainly to volunteers; and in such event these volunteers should already know how to shoot; for if a soldier has the fighting edge, and ability to take care of himself in the open, his efficiency on the line of battle is almost directly Proportionate to excellence in marksmanship. We should establish shooting galleries in all the large public and military schools, should maintain national target ranges in different parts of the country, and should in every way encourage the formation of rifle clubs throughout all parts of the land. The little Republic of Switzerland offers us an excellent example in all matters connected with building up an efficient citizen soldiery. "
[79] "<p> One of the results of the Pan American Conference at Rio Janeiro in the summer of 1906 has been a great increase in the activity and usefulness of the International Bureau of American Republics. That institution, which includes all the American Republics in its membership and brings all their representatives together, is doing a really valuable work in informing the people of the United States about the other Republics and in making the United States known to them. Its action is now limited by appropriations determined when it was doing a work on a much smaller scale and rendering much less valuable service. I recommend that the contribution of this Government to the expenses of the Bureau be made commensurate with its increased work. "
[80] "<p> I have thus, in a message compressed as much as the subjects will permit, referred to many of the legislative needs of the country, with the exceptions already noted. Speaking generally, the country is in a high state of prosperity. There is every reason to believe that we are on the eve of a substantial business expansion, and we have just garnered a harvest unexampled in the market value of our agricultural products. The high prices which such products bring mean great prosperity for the farming community, but on the other hand they mean a very considerably increased burden upon those classes in the community whose yearly compensation does not expand with the improvement in business and the general prosperity. Various reasons are given for the high prices. The proportionate increase in the output of gold, which to-day is the chief medium of exchange and is in some respects a measure of value, furnishes a substantial explanation of at least a part of the increase in prices. The increase in population and the more expensive mode of living of the people, which have not been accompanied by a proportionate increase in acreage production, may furnish a further reason. It is well to note that the increase in the cost of living is not confined to this country, but prevails the world over, and that those who would charge increases in prices to the existing protective tariff must meet the fact that the rise in prices has taken place almost wholly in those products of the factory and farm in respect to which there has been either no increase in the tariff or in many instances a very considerable reduction. "
[81] "<p> Department of Justice - 10,063,576.00 - 9,518,640.00 - 9,962,233.00 - 9,648,237.99 - + 101,343.00 - + 415,338.01 - + 313,995.01 - "
[82] "<p> I wish to renew again my recommendation that all the local offices throughout the country, including collectors of internal revenue, collectors of customs, postmasters of all four classes, immigration commissioners and marshals, should be by law covered into the classified service, the necessity for confirmation by the Senate be removed, and the President and the others, whose time is now taken up in distributing this patronage under the custom that has prevailed since the beginning of the Government in accordance with the recommendation of the Senators and Congressmen of the majority party, should be relieved from this burden. I am confident that such a change would greatly reduce the cost of administering the Government, and that it would add greatly to its efficiency. It would take away the power to use the patronage of the Government for political purposes. When officers are recommended by Senators and Congressmen from political motives and for political services rendered, it is impossible to expect that while in office the appointees will not regard their tenure as more or less dependent upon continued political service for their patrons, and no regulations, however stiff or rigid, will prevent this, because such regulations, in view of the method and motive for selection, are plainly inconsistent and deemed hardly worthy of respect. "
[83] "<p> The construction of the Lincoln Memorial and of a memorial bridge from the base of the Lincoln Monument to Arlington would be an appropriate and symbolic expression of the union of the North and the South at the Capital of the Nation. I urge upon Congress the appointment of a commission to undertake these national improvements, and to submit a plan for their execution; and when the plan has been submitted and approved, and the work carried out, Washington will really become what it ought to be--the most beautiful city in the world. "
[84] "<p> May I not express the very real pleas-are I have experienced in co-operating with this Congress and sharing with it the labors of common service to which it has devoted itself so unreservedly during the past seven months of uncomplaining concentration upon the business of legislation? Surely it is a proper and pertinent part of my report on \"the state of the Union\" to express my admiration for the diligence, the good temper, and the full comprehension of public duty which has already been manifested by both the Houses; and I hope that it may not be deemed an impertinent intrusion of myself into the picture if I say with how much and how constant satisfaction I have availed myself of the privilege of putting my time and energy at their disposal alike in counsel and in action. "
[85] "<p> I close, as I began, by reminding you of the great tasks and duties of peace which challenge our best powers and invite us to build what will last, the tasks to which we can address ourselves now and at all times with free-hearted zest and with all the finest gifts of constructive wisdom we possess. To develop our life and our resources; to supply our own people, and the people of the world as their need arises, from the abundant plenty of our fields and our marts of trade to enrich the commerce of our own States and of the world with the products of our mines, our farms, and our factories, with the creations of our thought and the fruits of our character,-this is what will hold our attention and our enthusiasm steadily, now and in the years to come, as we strive to show in our life as a nation what liberty and the inspirations of an emancipated spirit may do for men and for societies, for individuals, for states, and for mankind. "
[86] "<p> For what we are seeking now, what in my mind is the single thought of this message, is national efficiency and security. We serve a great nation. We should serve it in the spirit of its peculiar genius. It is the genius of common men for self-government, industry, justice, liberty and peace. We should see to it that it lacks no instrument, no facility or vigor of law, to make it sufficient to play its part with energy, safety, and assured success. In this we are no partisans but heralds and prophets of a new age. "
[87] "<p> Inasmuch as this is, gentlemen, probably the last occasion I shall have to address the Sixty-fourth Congress, I hope that you will permit me to say with what genuine pleasure and satisfaction I have co-operated with you in the many measures of constructive policy with which you have enriched the legislative annals of the country. It has been a privilege to labor in such company. I take the liberty of congratulating you upon the completion of a record of rare serviceableness and distinction. "
[88] "<p> I have spoken plainly because this seems to me the time when it is most necessary to speak plainly, in order that all the world may know that, even in the heat and ardor of the struggle and when our whole thought is of carrying the war through to its end, we have not forgotten any ideal or principle for which the name of America has been held in honor among the nations and for which it has been our glory to contend in the great generations that went before us. A supreme moment of history has come. The eyes of the people have been opened and they see. The hand of God is laid upon the nations. He will show them favor, I devoutly believe, only if they rise to the clear heights of His own justice and mercy. "
[89] "<p> May I not hope, Gentlemen of the Congress, that in the delicate tasks I shall have to perform on the other side of the sea, in my efforts truly and faithfully to interpret the principles and purposes of the country we love, I may have the encouragement and the added strength of your united support? I realize the magnitude and difficulty of the duty I am undertaking; I am poignantly aware of its grave responsibilities. I am the servant of the nation. I can have no private thought or purpose of my own in performing such an errand. I go to give the best that is in me to the common settlements which I must now assist in arriving at in conference with the other working heads of the associated governments. I shall count upon your friendly countenance and encouragement. I shall not be inaccessible. The cables and the wireless will render me available for any counsel or service you may desire of me, and I shall be happy in the thought that I am constantly in touch with the weighty matters of domestic policy with which we shall have to deal. I shall make my absence as brief as possible and shall hope to return with the happy assurance that it has been possible to translate into action the great ideals for which America has striven. "
[90] "<p> This is the hour of test and trial for America. By her prowess and strength, and the indomitable courage of her soldiers, she demonstrated her power to vindicate on foreign battlefields her conceptions of liberty and justice. Let not her influence as a mediator between capital and labor be weakened and her own failure to settle matters of purely domestic concern be proclaimed to the world. There are those in this country who threaten direct action to force their will, upon a majority. Russia today, with its blood and terror, is a painful object lesson of the power of minorities. It makes little difference what minority it is; whether capital or labor, or any other class; no sort of privilege will ever be permitted to dominate this country. We are a partnership or nothing that is worth while. We are a democracy, where the majority are the masters, or all the hopes and purposes of the men who founded this government have been defeated and forgotten. In America there is but one way by which great reforms can be accomplished and the relief sought by classes obtained, and that is through the orderly processes of representative government. Those who would propose any other method of reform are enemies of this country. America will not be daunted by threats nor lose her composure or calmness in these distressing times. We can afford, in the midst of this day of passion and unrest, to be self-contained and sure. The instrument of all reform in America is the ballot. The road to economic and social reform in America is the straight road of justice to all classes and conditions of men. Men have but to follow this road to realize the full fruition of their objects and purposes. Let those beware who would take the shorter road of disorder and revolution. The right road is the road of justice and orderly process. "
[91] "<p> I have not so much laid before you a series of recommendations, gentlemen, as sought to utter a confession of faith, of the faith in which I was bred and which it is my solemn purpose to stand by until my last fighting day. I believe this to be the faith of America, the faith of the future, and of all the victories which await national action in the days to come, whether in America or elsewhere. "
[92] "<p> It is easy to believe a world-hope is centered on this Capital City. A most gratifying world-accomplishment is not improbable. "
[93] "<p> After all there is less difference about the part this great Republic shall play in furthering peace and advancing humanity than in the manner of playing it. We ask no one to assume responsibility for us; we assume no responsibility which others must bear for themselves, unless nationality is hopelessly swallowed up in internationalism. "
[94] "<p> The world has had enough of the curse of hatred and selfishness, of destruction and war. It has had enough of the wrongful use of material power. For the healing of the nations there must be good will and charity, confidence and peace. The time has come for a more practical use of moral power, and more reliance upon the principle that right makes its own might. Our authority among the nations must be represented by justice and mercy. It is necessary not only to have faith, but to make sacrifices for our faith. The spiritual forces of the world make all its final determinations. It is with these voices that America should speak. Whenever they declare a righteous purpose there need be no doubt that they will be heard. America has taken her place in the world as a Republic--free, independent, powerful. The best service that can be rendered to humanity is the assurance that this place will be maintained. "
[95] "<p> These are the very foundations of America. On them has been erected a Government of freedom and equality, of justice and mercy, of education and charity. Living under it and supporting it the people have come into great possessions on the material and spiritual sides of life. I want to continue in this direction. I know that the Congress shares with me that desire. I want our institutions to be more and more expressive of these principles. I want the people of all the earth to see in the American flag the symbol of a Government which intends no oppression at home and no aggression abroad, which in the spirit of a common brotherhood provides assistance in time of distress. "
[96] "<p> In all your deliberations you should remember that the purpose of legislation is to translate principles into action. It is an effort to have our country be better by doing better. Because the thoughts and ways of people are firmly fixed and not easily changed, the field within which immediate improvement can be secured is very narrow. Legislation can provide opportunity. Whether it is taken advantage of or not depends upon the people themselves. The Government of the United States has been created by the people. It is solely responsible to them. It will be most successful if it is conducted solely for their benefit. All its efforts would be of little avail unless they brought more justice, more enlightenment, more happiness and prosperity into the home. This means an opportunity to observe religion, secure education, and earn a living under a reign of law and order. It is the growth and improvement of the material and spiritual life of the Nation. We shall not be able to gain these ends merely by our own action. If they come at all, it will be because we have been willing to work in harmony with the abiding purpose of a Divine Providence. "
[97] "<p> We need ideals that can be followed in daily life, that can be translated into terms of the home. We can not expect to be relieved from toil, but we do expect to divest it of degrading conditions. Work is honorable; it is entitled to an honorable recompense. We must strive mightily, but having striven there is a defect in our political and social system if we are not in general rewarded with success. To relieve the land of the burdens that came from the war, to release to the individual more of the fruits of his own industry, to increase his earning capacity and decrease his hours of labor, to enlarge the circle of his vision through good roads and better transportation, to lace before him the opportunity for education both in science and in art, to leave him free to receive the inspiration of religion, all these are ideals which deliver him from the servitude of the body and exalt him to the service of the soul. Through this emancipation from the things that are material, we broaden our dominion over the things that are spiritual. "
[98] "<p> Our country has made much progress. But it has taken, and will continue to take, much effort. Competition will be keen, the temptation to selfishness and arrogance will be severe, the provocations to deal harshly with weaker peoples will be many. All of these are embraced in the opportunity for true greatness. They will be overbalanced by cooperation by generosity, and a spirit of neighborly kindness. The forces of the universe are taking humanity in that direction. In doing good, in walking humbly, in sustaining its own people in ministering to other nations, America will work out its own mighty destiny. "
[99] "<p> The end of government is to keep open the opportunity for a more abundant life. Peace and prosperity are not finalities; they are only methods. It is too easy under their influence for a nation to become selfish and degenerate. This test has come to the United States. Our country has been provided with the resources with which it can enlarge its intellectual, moral, and spiritual life. The issue is in the hands of the people. Our faith in man and God is the justification for the belief in our continuing success. "
[100] "<p> A final personal word. I know that each of you will appreciate that. I am speaking no mere politeness when I assure you how much I value the fine relationship that we have shared during these months of hard and incessant work. Out of these friendly contacts we are, fortunately, building a strong and permanent tie between the legislative and executive branches of the Government. The letter of the Constitution wisely declared a separation, but the impulse of common purpose declares a union. In this spirit we join once more in serving the American people. "
[101] "<p> It is not empty optimism that moves me to a strong hope in the coming year. We can, if we will, make 1935 a genuine period of good feeling, sustained by a sense of purposeful progress. Beyond the material recovery, I sense a spiritual recovery as well. The people of America are turning as never before to those permanent values that are not limited to the physical objectives of life. There are growing signs of this on every hand. In the face of these spiritual impulses we are sensible of the Divine Providence to which Nations turn now, as always, for guidance and fostering care. "
[102] "<p> \"What great crises teach all men whom the example and counsel of the brave inspire is the lesson: Fear not, view all the tasks of life as sacred, have faith in the triumph of the ideal, give daily all that you have to give, be loyal and rejoice whenever you find yourselves part of a great ideal enterprise. You, at this moment, have the honor to belong to a generation whose lips are touched by fire. You live in a land that now enjoys the blessings of peace. But let nothing human be wholly alien to you. The human race now passes through one of its great crises. New ideas, new issues--a new call for men to carry on the work of righteousness, of charity, of courage, of patience, and of loyalty. . . . However memory bring back this moment to your minds, let it be able to say to you: That was a great moment. It was the beginning of a new era. . . . This world in its crisis called for volunteers, for men of faith in life, of patience in service, of charity and of insight. I responded to the call however I could. I volunteered to give myself to my Master--the cause of humane and brave living. I studied, I loved, I labored, unsparingly and hopefully, to be worthy of my generation.\" "
[103] "<p> In that spirit of endeavor and service I greet the 75th Congress at the beginning of this auspicious New Year. "
[104] "<p> I am sure the Congress of the United States will not let the people down. "
[105] "<p> This generation will \"nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. . . . The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just--a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless.\" "
[106] "<p> May the year 1940 be pointed to by our children as another period when democracy justified its existence as the best instrument of government yet devised by mankind. "
[107] "<p> This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory. "
[108] "<p> No compromise can end that conflict. There never has been--there never can be--successful compromise between good and evil. Only total victory can reward the champions of tolerance, and decency, and freedom, and faith. "
[109] "<p> But, as we face that continuing task, we may know that the state of this Nation is good--the heart of this Nation is sound--the spirit of this Nation is strong--the faith of this Nation is eternal. "
[110] "<p> Each and every one of us has a solemn obligation under God to serve this Nation in its most critical hour--to keep this Nation great--to make this Nation greater in a better world. "
[111] "<p> We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has given us. "
[112] "<p> As printed above, references to tables appearing in the budget document have been omitted. "
[113] "<p> May He give us wisdom to lead the peoples of the world in His ways of peace. "
[114] "<p> This is the hour to rededicate ourselves to the faith in God that gives us confidence as we face the challenge of the years ahead. "
[115] "<p> With that help from Almighty God which we have humbly acknowledged at every turning point in our national life, we shall be able to perform the great tasks which He now sets before us. "
[116] "<p> As we approach the halfway mark of the 20th century, we should ask for continued strength and guidance from that Almighty Power who has placed before us such great opportunities for the good of mankind in the years to come. "
[117] "<p> This is our cause--peace, freedom, justice. We will pursue this cause with determination and humility, asking divine guidance that in all we do we may follow the will of God. "
[118] "<p> 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. "
[119] "<p> May God bless our country and our cause. "
[120] "<p> In this spirit, let us together turn to the great tasks before us. "
[121] "<p> But a government can try, as ours tries, to sense the deepest aspirations of the people, and to express them in political action at home and abroad. So long as action and aspiration humbly and earnestly seek favor in the sight of the Almighty, there is no end to America's forward road; there is no obstacle on it she will not surmount in her march toward a lasting peace in a free and prosperous world. "
[122] "<p> 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. "
[123] "<p> To the attainment of these objectives, I pledge full energies of the Administration, as in the Session ahead, it works on a program for submission to you, the Congress of the United States. "
[124] "<p> To achieve a more perfect fidelity to it, I submit, is a worthy ambition as we meet together in these first days of this, the first session of the 85th Congress. "
[125] "<p> I am fully confident that the response of the Congress and of the American people will make this time of test a time of honor. Mankind then will see more clearly than ever that the future belongs, not to the concept of the regimented atheistic state, but to the people--the God-fearing, peace-loving people of all the world. "
[126] "<p> If we make ourselves worthy of America's ideals, if we do not forget that our nation was founded on the premise that all men are creatures of God's making, the world will come to know that it is free men who carry forward the true promise of human progress and dignity. "
[127] "<p> So dedicated, and with faith in the Almighty, humanity shall one day achieve the unity in freedom to which all men have aspired from the dawn of time. "
[128] "<p> Our goal always has been to add to the spiritual, moral, and material strength of our nation. I believe we have done this. But it is a process that must never end. Let us pray that leaders of both the near and distant future will be able to keep the nation strong and at peace, that they will advance the well-being of all our people, that they will lead us on to still higher moral standards, and that, in achieving these goals, they will maintain a reasonable balance between private and governmental responsibility. "
[129] "<p> In the words of a great President, whose birthday we honor today, closing his final State of the Union Message sixteen years ago, \"We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has given us.\" "
[130] "<p> And in this high endeavor, may God watch over the United States of America. "
[131] "<p> Today we still welcome those winds of change--and we have every reason to believe that our tide is running strong. With thanks to Almighty God for seeing us through a perilous passage, we ask His help anew in guiding the \"Good Ship Union.\" "
[132] "<p> So I ask you now in the Congress and in the country to join with me in expressing and fulfilling that faith in working for a nation, a nation that is free from want and a world that is free from hate--a world of peace and justice, and freedom and abundance, for our time and for all time to come. "
[133] "<p> So it shall always be, while God is willing, and we are strong enough to keep the faith. "
[134] "<p> Thank you, and goodnight. "
[135] "<p> So with your understanding, I would hope your confidence, and your support, we are going to persist--and we are going to succeed. "
[136] "<p> Thank you and good night. "
[137] "<p> That is what I hope. But I believe that at least it will be said that we tried. "
[138] "<p> May God give us the wisdom, the strength and, above all, the idealism to be worthy of that challenge, so that America can fulfill its destiny of being the world's best hope for liberty, for opportunity, for progress and peace for all peoples. "
[139] "<p> My colleagues in the Congress, these are great goals. They can make the sessions of this Congress a great moment for America. So let us pledge together to go forward together--by achieving these goals to give America the foundation today for a new greatness tomorrow and in all the years to come, and in so doing to make this the greatest Congress in the history of this great and good country. "
[140] "<p> That is why my call upon the Congress today is for a high statesmanship, so that in the years to come Americans will look back and say because it withstood the intense pressures of a political year, and achieved such great good for the American people and for the future of this Nation, this was truly a great Congress. "
[141] "<p> But my colleagues, this I believe: With the help of God, who has blessed this land so richly, with the cooperation of the Congress, and with the support of the American people, we can and we will make the year 1974 a year of unprecedented progress toward our goal of building a structure of lasting peace in the world and a new prosperity without war in the United States of America. "
[142] "<p> Thank you. "
[143] "<p> Let us engrave it now in each of our hearts as we begin our Bicentennial. "
[144] "<p> Good night. God bless you. "
[145] "<p> Thank you very much. "
[146] "<p> Thank you very much. "
[147] "<p> Thank you very much. "
[148] "<p> We must move together into this decade with the strength which comes from realization of the dangers before us and from the confidence that together we can overcome them. The White House, January 16, 1981. "
[149] "<p> Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America. "
[150] "<p> God bless all of you. And may God bless this great nation, the United States of America. "
[151] "<p> May God bless the United States of America. "
[152] "<p> And maybe for a moment it's good to remember what, in the dailyness of our lives, we forget. We are still and ever the freest nation on Earth, the kindest nation on Earth, the strongest nation on Earth. And we have always risen to the occasion. And we are going to lift this nation out of hard times inch by inch and day by day, and those who would stop us better step aside. Because I look at hard times and I make this vow: This will not stand. And so we move on, together, a rising nation, the once and future miracle that is still, this night, the hope of the world. "
[153] "<p> Thank you. God bless America. "
[154] "<p> Thank you and God Bless America. "
[155] "<p> This is a very, very great country and our best days are still to come. Thank you and God bless you all. "
[156] "<p> Thank you, God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. "
[157] "<p> Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America. "
[158] "<p> God bless you, and God bless the United States. "
[159] "<p> Thank you, and good evening. "
[160] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. "
[161] "<p> Thank you all. May God bless. "
[162] "<p> May He guide us now. And may God continue to bless the United States of America. "
[163] "<p> May God continue to bless America. "
[164] "<p> Thank you, and may God bless America. "
[165] "<p> By trusting the people, our Founders wagered that a great and noble nation could be built on the liberty that resides in the hearts of all men and women. By trusting the people, succeeding generations transformed our fragile young democracy into the most powerful nation on earth and a beacon of hope for millions. And so long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure, and the State of our Union will remain strong. So tonight, with confidence in freedoms power, and trust in the people, let us set forth to do their business. "
[166] "<p> And if we do -- if we come together and lift this nation from the depths of this crisis; if we put our people back to work and restart the engine of our prosperity; if we confront without fear the challenges of our time and summon that enduring spirit of an America that does not quit, then someday years from now our children can tell their children that this was the time when we performed, in the words that are carved into this very chamber, \"something worthy to be remembered.\" Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America. "
[167] "<p> Thank you. God Bless You. And God Bless the United States of America. "
[168] "<p> Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. "
[169] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. "
[170] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. "
[171] "<p> Steve's right. That's why, tonight, I ask every American who knows someone without health insurance to help them get covered by March 31st. Moms, get on your kids to sign up. Kids, call your mom and walk her through the application. It will give her some peace of mind plus, she'll appreciate hearing from you. After all, that's the spirit that has always moved this nation forward. It's the spirit of citizenship the recognition that through hard work and responsibility, we can pursue our individual dreams, but still come together as one American family to make sure the next generation can pursue its dreams as well. Citizenship means standing up for everyone's right to vote. Last year, part of the Voting Rights Act was weakened. But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats are working together to strengthen it; and the bipartisan commission I appointed last year has offered reforms so that no one has to wait more than a half hour to vote. Let's support these efforts. It should be the power of our vote, not the size of our bank account, that drives our democracy. Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say \"we are not afraid,\" and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook. Citizenship demands a sense of common cause; participation in the hard work of self-government; an obligation to serve to our communities. And I know this chamber agrees that few Americans give more to their country than our diplomats and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. Tonight, because of the extraordinary troops and civilians who risk and lay down their lives to keep us free, the United States is more secure. When I took office, nearly 180,000 Americans were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, all our troops are out of Iraq. More than 60,000 of our troops have already come home from Afghanistan. With Afghan forces now in the lead for their own security, our troops have moved to a support role. Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by the end of this year, and America's longest war will finally be over. After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future. If the Afghan government signs a security agreement that we have negotiated, a small force of Americans could remain in Afghanistan with NATO allies to carry out two narrow missions: training and assisting Afghan forces, and counterterrorism operations to pursue any remnants of al Qaeda. For while our relationship with Afghanistan will change, one thing will not: our resolve that terrorists do not launch attacks against our country. The fact is, that danger remains. While we have put al Qaeda's core leadership on a path to defeat, the threat has evolved, as al Qaeda affiliates and other extremists take root in different parts of the world. In Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, and Mali, we have to keep working with partners to disrupt and disable these networks. In Syria, we'll support the opposition that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks. Here at home, we'll keep strengthening our defenses, and combat new threats like cyberattacks. And as we reform our defense budget, we have to keep faith with our men and women in uniform, and invest in the capabilities they need to succeed in future missions. We have to remain vigilant. But I strongly believe our leadership and our security cannot depend on our military alone. As Commander-in-Chief, I have used force when needed to protect the American people, and I will never hesitate to do so as long as I hold this office. But I will not send our troops into harm's way unless it's truly necessary; nor will I allow our sons and daughters to be mired in open-ended conflicts. We must fight the battles that need to be fought, not those that terrorists prefer from us large-scale deployments that drain our strength and may ultimately feed extremism. So, even as we aggressively pursue terrorist networks through more targeted efforts and by building the capacity of our foreign partners America must move off a permanent war footing. That's why I've imposed prudent limits on the use of drones for we will not be safer if people abroad believe we strike within their countries without regard for the consequence. That's why, working with this Congress, I will reform our surveillance programs because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated. And with the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay because we counter terrorism not just through intelligence and military action, but by remaining true to our Constitutional ideals, and setting an example for the rest of the world. You see, in a world of complex threats, our security and leadership depends on all elements of our power including strong and principled diplomacy. American diplomacy has rallied more than fifty countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands, and allowed us to reduce our own reliance on Cold War stockpiles. American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria's chemical weapons are being eliminated, and we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear. As we speak, American diplomacy is supporting Israelis and Palestinians as they engage in difficult but necessary talks to end the conflict there; to achieve dignity and an independent state for Palestinians, and lasting peace and security for the State of Israel a Jewish state that knows America will always be at their side. And it is American diplomacy, backed by pressure, that has halted the progress of Iran's nuclear program and rolled parts of that program back for the very first time in a decade. As we gather here tonight, Iran has begun to eliminate its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium. It is not installing advanced centrifuges. Unprecedented inspections help the world verify, every day, that Iran is not building a bomb. And with our allies and partners, we're engaged in negotiations to see if we can peacefully achieve a goal we all share: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. These negotiations will be difficult. They may not succeed. We are clear-eyed about Iran's support for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, which threaten our allies; and the mistrust between our nations cannot be wished away. But these negotiations do not rely on trust; any long-term deal we agree to must be based on verifiable action that convinces us and the international community that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today. The sanctions that we put in place helped make this opportunity possible. But let me be clear: if this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it. For the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed. If Iran's leaders do not seize this opportunity, then I will be the first to call for more sanctions, and stand ready to exercise all options to make sure Iran does not build a nuclear weapon. But if Iran's leaders do seize the chance, then Iran could take an important step to rejoin the community of nations, and we will have resolved one of the leading security challenges of our time without the risks of war. Finally, let's remember that our leadership is defined not just by our defense against threats, but by the enormous opportunities to do good and promote understanding around the globe to forge greater cooperation, to expand new markets, to free people from fear and want. And no one is better positioned to take advantage of those opportunities than America. Our alliance with Europe remains the strongest the world has ever known. From Tunisia to Burma, we're supporting those who are willing to do the hard work of building democracy. In Ukraine, we stand for the principle that all people have the right to express themselves freely and peacefully, and have a say in their country's future. Across Africa, we're bringing together businesses and governments to double access to electricity and help end extreme poverty. In the Americas, we are building new ties of commerce, but we're also expanding cultural and educational exchanges among young people. And we will continue to focus on the Asia-Pacific, where we support our allies, shape a future of greater security and prosperity, and extend a hand to those devastated by disaster as we did in the Philippines, when our Marines and civilians rushed to aid those battered by a typhoon, and were greeted with words like, \"We will never forget your kindness\" and \"God bless America!\" We do these things because they help promote our long-term security. And we do them because we believe in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation. And next week, the world will see one expression of that commitment when Team USA marches the red, white, and blue into the Olympic Stadium and brings home the gold. My fellow Americans, no other country in the world does what we do. On every issue, the world turns to us, not simply because of the size of our economy or our military might but because of the ideals we stand for, and the burdens we bear to advance them. No one knows this better than those who serve in uniform. As this time of war draws to a close, a new generation of heroes returns to civilian life. We'll keep slashing that backlog so our veterans receive the benefits they've earned, and our wounded warriors receive the health care including the mental health care that they need. We'll keep working to help all our veterans translate their skills and leadership into jobs here at home. And we all continue to join forces to honor and support our remarkable military families. Let me tell you about one of those families I've come to know. I first met Cory Remsburg, a proud Army Ranger, at Omaha Beach on the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Along with some of his fellow Rangers, he walked me through the program a strong, impressive young man, with an easy manner, sharp as a tack. We joked around, and took pictures, and I told him to stay in touch. A few months later, on his tenth deployment, Cory was nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan. His comrades found him in a canal, face down, underwater, shrapnel in his brain. For months, he lay in a coma. The next time I met him, in the hospital, he couldn't speak; he could barely move. Over the years, he's endured dozens of surgeries and procedures, and hours of grueling rehab every day. Even now, Cory is still blind in one eye. He still struggles on his left side. But slowly, steadily, with the support of caregivers like his dad Craig, and the community around him, Cory has grown stronger. Day by day, he's learned to speak again and stand again and walk again and he's working toward the day when he can serve his country again. \"My recovery has not been easy,\" he says. \"Nothing in life that's worth anything is easy.\" Cory is here tonight. And like the Army he loves, like the America he serves, Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg never gives up, and he does not quit. My fellow Americans, men and women like Cory remind us that America has never come easy. Our freedom, our democracy, has never been easy. Sometimes we stumble; we make mistakes; we get frustrated or discouraged. But for more than two hundred years, we have put those things aside and placed our collective shoulder to the wheel of progress to create and build and expand the possibilities of individual achievement; to free other nations from tyranny and fear; to promote justice, and fairness, and equality under the law, so that the words set to paper by our founders are made real for every citizen. The America we want for our kids a rising America where honest work is plentiful and communities are strong; where prosperity is widely shared and opportunity for all lets us go as far as our dreams and toil will take us none of it is easy. But if we work together; if we summon what is best in us, with our feet planted firmly in today but our eyes cast towards tomorrow I know it's within our reach. Believe it. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. "
[172] "<p> Thank you. God bless you. God bless this country we love. Thank you. "
[173] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. "
[174] "<p> Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States. "
[175] "<p> Thank you. God bless you, God bless America, and good night!" Check to make sure that obnly metadata is being eliminated.
last_par[!use_last] [1] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[2] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[3] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[4] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[5] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[6] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[7] "<p> GO. WASHINGTON "
[8] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[9] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[10] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[11] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[12] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[13] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[14] "<p> TH. JEFFERSON "
[15] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[16] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[17] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[18] "<p> JOHN QUINCY ADAMS "
[19] "<p> M. VAN BUREN "
[20] "<p> M. VAN BUREN "
[21] "<p> M. VAN BUREN "
[22] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[23] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[24] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[25] "<p> JAMES K. POLK "
[26] "<p> Z. TAYLOR. "
[27] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[28] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[29] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[30] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[31] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[32] "<p> U. S. GRANT "
[33] "<p> R. B. HAYES "
[34] "<p> BENJ. HARRISON "
[35] "<p> BENJ. HARRISON "
[36] "<p> BENJ. HARRISON "
[37] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[38] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[39] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[40] "<p> GROVER CLEVELAND "
[41] "<p> Tuesday, December 8, 1908. "
[42] "<p> December 3, 1929 "
[43] "<p> December 2, 1930 "
[44] "<p> December 8, 1931 "
[45] "<p> HERBERT HOOVER The White House, December 6, 1932. "
[46] "<p> February 2, 1973. "
[47] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9 p.m. in the House Chamber at the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[48] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:03 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[49] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:02 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[50] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:05 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[51] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 8:04 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[52] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:03 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Jim Wright, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[53] "<p> NOTE: The President spoke at 9:07 p.m. in the House Chamber of the Capitol. He was introduced by Jim Wright, Speaker of the House of Representatives. The address was broadcast live on nationwide radio and television. "
[54] "<p> GEORGE W. BUSH. THE WHITE HOUSE, February 27, 2001. "
[55] "<p> GEORGE W. BUSH. THE WHITE HOUSE, September 20, 2001. "
[56] "<p> [Applause, the Members rising.] "
[57] "<p> [Applause, the Members rising.] "
[58] "<p> THE WHITE HOUSE, January 30, 2018. " Now that we have vectors indicating the year of each address, the name of the president who gave each one, and whether or not the last paragraph should be used in text analysis, we can pull these vectors together into a data frame. A data frame is a vertical collection of vectors where the same element of each vector refers to the same object. For example, the third element of year, pres, and use_last all refer to the third State of the Union Address. Therefore, each row of a data frame refers to an object and each column to a characteristic about that object. We want a data frame where each row refers to one State of the Union address. We can create it with the data.frame() function.
sotu_meta <- data.frame(year, pres, use_last)We can use the head() and tail() functions to see the first and last six rows of the data frame.
head(sotu_meta)tail(sotu_meta)Finally, let’s save the metadata table so we can use it next week. We will save it as a .csv file to preserve the tabular fomat.
write_csv(sotu_meta, "sotu_metadata.csv")