MINNEAPOLIS — President Obama vowed on Tuesday that he would not allow cuts in programs for veterans as Congress and the administration look for ways to balance the budget.

In a somber speech to the annual convention of the American Legion that dwelled on the need to tackle unemployment among veterans, but offered little in the way of specifics about his overall economic proposals that are due next week, the president repeated his assertion of earlier this summer that after a decade of war, it was time to turn the country’s attention to domestic prosperity.