In his January 22, 1971, State of the Union address, President Richard Nixon proposed a sweeping reorganization of the federal government designed to reduce the 12 Cabinet departments to eight. The president’s speech, dominated by domestic issues, also detailed a plan for revenue sharing between states and cities, welfare reform, and environmental protection. In this photograph, Vice President Spiro Agnew (left) and newly elected Speaker Carl Albert (right) applauded the president.
