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George W. Bush delivers his State of the Union address on Jan. 28, 2003.
The State of the Union Address is the annual event where the President of the United States normally speaks to a joint session of the Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate), about the status of the country. It is typically delivered on the last Tuesday in January (although there is no such provision written in law) and done so in the House chamber.
Modelled after the Speech from the Throne, the requirement for the address is written into the United States Constitution:
- "The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." (Article II, Section 3)
In the State of the Union the president traditionally outlines his administration's political agenda for the coming year in upbeat and otomistic terms. At some point during the speech, the president always says The State of our Union is strong or a very similar phrase. In recent years it has also become common for the president to acknowledge special guests in the audience, such as everyday Americans, or visiting Heads of State. The guests are usually relevant to some part of the president's speech.
State of the Union speeches usually last a little over an hour. The president delivers the speech from a podium at the front of the House chamber, and behind him sit the Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Represenatives. If either is unavaiable, the next highest-ranking member of the Presidential order of succession takes his or her place. Part of the length of the speech is due to the large amounts of applause that occurs from the audience throughout. The applause is somewhat political in tone, with many portions of the speech only being applauded by members of the president's own party. Applause indicates support, while applause with a standing ovation indicates enthusiastic support.
The first address was made by George Washington on January 8, 1790. The manner of the address has changed over time. In 1801 Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of delivering the address in person, regarding it too regal (and perhaps due to the fact that he has a raspy voice). Until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson recontinued the practice despite some initial controversy, the address was instead written and then sent to Congress and read by a clerk.
Calvin Coolidge's 1923 speech was the first to be broadcast on radio. The actual term "State of the Union" did not become widely used until after 1935 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt began using the phrase. Harry S. Truman's 1947 address was the first to be broadcast on television.