Remember that super clear, super serious opening about the "grave" situation our country is in?

Well, Truman's going to remind us about it in his closing. Except he's so good at conveying how serious it is by this point in the speech, that he's going to do it in even fewer words than he did in the beginning (Twenty-four words in sentences 108 and 109 versus thirty-two words in sentences 1 and 2 to be exact. But who's counting? Don't answer that. Clearly we are).

Throughout the speech, Truman has outlined the communist threat to both the future of our nation as well as our role as a global leader in democracy. Taking actions that preserve both are the grave, serious, and "great responsibilities" currently facing the United States (108).

Also, remember back in sentence 1 how he acknowledged the fact that he's speaking before a joint session of Congress? ("The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates my appearance before a joint session of the Congress," he tells us.) Sentence 109—the very last sentence in the speech—returns back to that idea of this being an issue involving Congress:

I am confident that the Congress will face these responsibilities squarely. (109)

At the end of the day, the entire speech was written to ask Congress to join Truman in trying to protect these "responsibilities." That's why he doesn't end with a "thank you" or some other endearing closing. Instead, sentence 109 is to the audience. He's done his part by telling them what he thinks we should do and now it's up to them to theirs.

Truman out.