1992 State of the Union Address
Encyclopedia
The 1992 State of the Union address
was a speech given by President George H. W. Bush
to a joint session
of the 102nd United States Congress
on January 28, 1992. This was the last State of the Union address by President Bush, who lost his re-election bid to Bill Clinton
in the 1992 election
.
The president discussed the collapse of the Soviet Union
, Operation Desert Storm, military spending cuts, nuclear disarmament
, economic recovery (high unemployment remained from the early 1990s recession), several types of tax cuts and credits, and controlling government spending. Bush listed a nine-point, long-term plan advocating:
Seeing increased division in American media and politics, Bush denounced election-year partisanship and described the popular sentiment as a passing mood.
The speech lasted 51 minutes and consisted of 5,012 words.
The Democratic Party
response was delivered by the Speaker of the House
, Representative Tom Foley
of Washington. Foley, speaking for 12 minutes, criticized Bush's economic recovery plans as being the same as those that led to the recession and argued for more support of the middle class
instead of wealthier Americans.
Edward Madigan
, the Secretary of Agriculture
, served as the designated survivor
.
State of the Union Address
The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and his national priorities.The practice arises...
was a speech given by President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
to a joint session
Joint session of the United States Congress
Joint sessions of the United States Congress are the gatherings together of both houses of the United States Congress...
of the 102nd United States Congress
102nd United States Congress
-House of Representatives:- Senate :* President:Dan Quayle * President pro tempore: Robert Byrd - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader: George Mitchell* Majority Whip: Wendell Ford- Minority leadership :...
on January 28, 1992. This was the last State of the Union address by President Bush, who lost his re-election bid to Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
in the 1992 election
United States presidential election, 1992
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot....
.
The president discussed the collapse of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Operation Desert Storm, military spending cuts, nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
, economic recovery (high unemployment remained from the early 1990s recession), several types of tax cuts and credits, and controlling government spending. Bush listed a nine-point, long-term plan advocating:
- free tradeFree tradeUnder a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
- school choiceSchool choiceSchool choice is a term used to describe a wide array of programs aimed at giving families the opportunity to choose the school their children will attend. As a matter of form, school choice does not give preference to one form of schooling or another, rather manifests itself whenever a student...
- research and developmentResearch and developmentThe phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
tax credits and emerging technologiesEmerging technologiesIn the history of technology, emerging technologies are contemporary advances and innovation in various fields of technology. Various converging technologies have emerged in the technological convergence of different systems evolving towards similar goals...
funding - anti-crime legislation
- inner cityInner cityThe inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
development - privatized health care reformHealth care reform in the United StatesHealth care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...
- reduction of the federal budget deficit
- Congress to act on various existing reform proposals
- efforts to strengthen families
Seeing increased division in American media and politics, Bush denounced election-year partisanship and described the popular sentiment as a passing mood.
The speech lasted 51 minutes and consisted of 5,012 words.
The Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
response was delivered by the Speaker of the House
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
, Representative Tom Foley
Tom Foley
Thomas Stephen Foley was the 57th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1989 to 1995. He represented Washington's 5th congressional district for 30 years as a Democratic member from 1965 to 1995....
of Washington. Foley, speaking for 12 minutes, criticized Bush's economic recovery plans as being the same as those that led to the recession and argued for more support of the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
instead of wealthier Americans.
Edward Madigan
Edward Rell Madigan
Edward Rell Madigan was a businessman and a Republican Party politician from Lincoln, Illinois. He served almost twenty years in the United States House of Representatives and was U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for George H. W. Bush.Madigan was born in Lincoln and attended Lincoln [Junior] College...
, the Secretary of Agriculture
United States Secretary of Agriculture
The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other...
, served as the designated survivor
Designated survivor
A designated survivor is a member of the United States Cabinet who is appointed to be at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the president and the country's other top leaders are gathered at a single location, such as during State of the Union addresses and presidential...
.
External links
- http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=20544(full transcript), The American Presidency Project, UC Santa BarbaraUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraThe University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
.] - http://www.millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/5531(full video), Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of VirginiaUniversity of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
.] - Transcript of the Democratic Party response, New York Times