On January 27, 1987, President Ronald Reagan delivered his sixth State of the Union address, calling for cuts in domestic spending, an increase in the defense budget, and an assurance of no tax increases. The President touched briefly on the administration’s controversial sale of arms to Iran, acknowledging that mistakes had been made and urging the nation to look beyond it: “Let it never be said of this generation of Americans that we became so obsessed with failure that we refused to take risks that could further the cause of peace and freedom in the world.”
