Monday, January 14, 1963: State of the Union speech

President Kennedy gives his third State of the Union speech to the U.S. Congress. The next day's headlines center on his tax proposal:

"... I shall propose a permanent reduction in tax rates which will lower liabilities by 13.5 billion dollars. Of this, 11 billion dollars results from reducing individual tax rates, which now range between 20 and 91 percent, to a more sensible range of 14 to 65 percent, with a split in the present first bracket. Two and one-half billion dollars results from reducing corporate tax rates, from 52 percent -- which gives the government today a majority interest in profits -- to the permanent pre-Korean level of 47 percent."

(A version of the plan would be signed into law in February 1964 by President Johnson.)

* Transcript (from The American Presidency Project): @

* Video (from public.resource.org): @
* Audio (from JFK Library): @
* Copy of speech, other documents (from JFK Library): @ and @
* "When Tax Cuts Were a Tough Sell" (New York Times, January 2013): @
* "Special Message to the Congress on Tax Reduction and Reform" (January 24, 1963): @

The proposal followed a nationally televised speech on August 13, 1962, in which the president talked about the economy and signaled his intention to push for a tax cut. (Photo from JFK Library.)
* Transcript (from The American Presidency Project): @
* Audio (from JFK Library): @
* Newsreel: @

* Copy of speech, other documents (from JFK Library): @ 

* Kennedy speech to Economic Club of New York (December 14, 1962): @

* Tax rates, 1913-2011 (from Tax Foundation): @

* Tax Policy Center: @ 

Note: Kennedy often used the phrase "a rising tide lifts all boats" in referring to the far-reaching benefits of a strong economy (though he did not say it in either of these speeches).
* Entry from "Safire's Political Dictionary" (William Safire): @
* Other uses (from www.barrypopik.com): @ 

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