State of the Union (address)

The State of the Union address is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to the members of Congress. The address is required by the US Constitution, although when, where, and in what manner the president delivers the message is not specified. Most presidents have chosen to address Congress in person; however, for more than a century, the president submitted this message in writing. The content of the message has also evolved over the centuries. Early messages were typically administrative budget requests and reports on the executive branch and the economy. Later addresses attempted to gain congressional support for the president’s political agenda. In the modern era, the president uses the forum to tout accomplishments and promote legislative goals. Since the growth of mass media in the twentieth century, presidents have used the message to address the American people as well as Congress.

Background

When the Founding Fathers were drafting the Constitution, they wanted to create a government that would prevent any one person or group from gaining too much power. They developed a series of checks and balances in which each of the three branches of government—the executive, legislative, and judicial branches—tempered the power of the others. As part of these checks and balances, the Constitution stated that the president “shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union.”

Although “from time to time” did not specify an exact date, George Washington chose to give his first address to Congress on January 8, 1790, at the Senate Chamber in New York City. His speech was the shortest in presidential history with a length of 1,089 words that was said to be about ten minutes long. Washington did not use the term “State of the Union,” but called the address his “Annual Message,” a name that was used for more than a century and a half.

Washington and his successor, John Adams, continued to deliver the annual message to Congress in person. Perhaps owing to his reputation as a poor public speaker, Thomas Jefferson decided to present his 1801 message to Congress in writing. For the next 112 years, presidents followed Jefferson’s lead and submitted their annual messages in writing. Over time, these messages grew quite long with some topping out at more than 25,000 words.

Overview

For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the presidents’ messages were generally budget requests for various government agencies and reports on the nation’s economy and the departments under the executive branch. In 1823, however, President James Monroe used his message to announce the foreign policy edit known as the Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine warned European powers against interfering in the affairs of nations in the Western Hemisphere.

In December 1913, President Woodrow Wilson chose to revive the tradition of personally delivering his message before Congress. He also changed the tone of the message, using it to promote his legislative agenda in Congress. With the exception of Herbert Hoover, who was in office from 1929 to 1932, all presidents since Wilson have delivered the majority of their addresses in person. In 1923, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to have his message transmitted over radio.

Prior to 1934, messages were always delivered in December. When Congress moved its official opening session from March to January, the president’s annual message also moved to January or February. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt began calling his speech the State of the Union message. In 1947, its name was officially changed to the State of the Union. That same year, Harry Truman’s address became the first to be broadcast on television. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson began the practice of holding his State of the Union address at night to reach a larger television audience. A year later, the opposing party to the president was given the opportunity to respond to the State of the Union address.

In 1981, President Jimmy Carter was the last president to issue his address in written form. Carter had lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan, and before leaving office sent Congress a 33,667-word message—the longest in history. When Reagan took office in January 1981, he set a new precedent by not calling his first speech the State of the Union. All presidents since Reagan have followed the example, referring to their first speeches either as “Legislative Goals” or an “Address Before a Joint Session of Congress.” In 1982, Reagan began another tradition by personally inviting special guests to attend the State of the Union address. These guests are usually honored for a heroic act or as an example of how the president’s policies would affect the public.

By the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the State of the Union address had evolved into a way for the president to showcase political successes and highlight legislative priorities for the upcoming year. The growth of cable television in the 1980s and 1990s allowed the speech to be viewed by millions of people on multiple networks. In 1997, Bill Clinton was the first president to have his speech streamed via the internet. In 2002, George W. Bush’s address was the first to be available on a live video webcast.

Modern State of the Union addresses are all delivered in the chamber of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill. The vice president and speaker of the House are seated behind the president as they speak. Seats in the chamber are reserved for members of the House and Senate, former members of the House and Senate, members of the president’s cabinet, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the diplomatic corps. The justices of the Supreme Court are also invited to attend; however, some have decided to skip the speech. Before the address, one member of the cabinet is chosen as the designated survivor and taken to a secured location outside of Washington, DC. This practice has been in place since the height of the Cold War to ensure presidential succession in case of a catastrophe.

Bibliography

“First Annual Address to Congress.” The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29431. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Hansler, Jennifer. “Everything You Need to Know about the State of the Union Address.” CNN, 29 Jan. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/politics/state-of-the-union-address-sotu-everything-you-need-to-know/index.html. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Kalb, Deborah, et al., editors. State of the Union: Presidential Rhetoric from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush. CQ Press, 2007.

Lange, Jeva. “12 Memorable Moments from Past State of the Union Addresses.” The Week, theweek.com/captured/750588/12-memorable-moments-from-past-state-union-addresses. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Lindsay, James M. “Ten Facts about the State of the Union Address.” Council on Foreign Relations, 26 Jan. 2018, www.cfr.org/blog/ten-facts-about-state-union-address. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Pruitt, Sarah. “How the President's State of the Union Address Became an Annual Tradition.” History, 26 Mar. 2024, www.history.com/news/state-of-the-union-explained. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

“State of the Union Address.” United States House of Representatives, history.house.gov/Institution/SOTU/State-of-the-Union/. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.