| 1957 State of the Union Address | |
| Time: | 12:30 p.m. EST[1] |
| Duration: | 33 minutes[2] |
| Venue: | House Chamber, United States Capitol |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates: | 38.8897°N -77.0089°W |
| Type: | State of the Union Address |
| Participants: | Dwight D. Eisenhower Richard Nixon Sam Rayburn |
| Blank1 Label: | Previous |
| Blank1 Data: | 1956 State of the Union Address |
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| Blank2 Data: | 1958 State of the Union Address |
The 1957 State of the Union Address was given by Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, on Thursday, January 10, 1957, to the 85th United States Congress in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives.[3] It was Eisenhower's sixth State of the Union Address. Presiding over this joint session was House speaker Sam Rayburn, accompanied by Vice President Richard Nixon, in his capacity as the president of the Senate. The speech was broadcast live over both radio and television.
Eisenhower's speech covered the threats posed by the Soviet Union and communism more generally around the world, calling for US troops to be used, if need be, to counter any expansion of communism into the Middle East. On the domestic side, Eisenhower warned of inflation "if the government might become profligate in its expenditures," calling on the government to "live within its means." Eisenhower also addressed the issue of civil rights, calling for the enactment of what later became the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Eisenhower closed his speech by appealing to the Declaration of Independence and its statement of inalienable rights:
This was Eisenhower's shortest State of the Union Address, both in time of delivery at 33 minutes and in word count at just over 4,000.[4]
Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson called Eisenhower's speech "a comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the problems which confront our people."