With the specter of recession supplanting the Iraq war as the top US concern, Mr Bush acknowledged in his final State of the Union address that growth was slowing down but insisted the country's long-term economic prospects were sound.

At the top of his speech's agenda was a US$150 billion package meant to avert recession in an economy suffering from high oil prices and a housing slump.

"In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth. But in the short run, we can all see that growth is slowing,” Mr Bush said in a globally televised speech to the US Congress.

Politically weakened by the unpopular war in Iraq, eclipsed by the race to choose his successor and scrambling to stave off lame-duck status, Mr Bush presented no bold new ideas.

Bush urged Americans to be patient with the mission in Iraq almost five years after the US-led invasion.

He touted security gains in Iraq he claimed were due to a troop buildup ordered last January but gave no hint of any further troop reductions, asserting that such decisions would depend on his commanders' recommendations.

Calling on Iran to “come clean” on its nuclear programme, the US President issued a stern warning to Tehran, which he had branded part of an “axis of evil” in his 2002 State of the Union speech.