The State of the Union Address (SOTUA) is one of only two duties assigned to the President of the United States in our Constitution. Under Article II, Section 3, it states: "He 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." But as I found out in preparing a historical briefing package for the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee a number of years ago what seems to be the "same old, same old" has, in reality, had a hither and yon approach to where it got today. Therefore, the following chronological approach is useful in helping to explain how we got to today's State of the Union Address in 2012.
1790 - George Washington gives the first SOTUA and does so in person to Congress in New York City
1801 - Thomas Jefferson starts the practice of only sending a written copy of his SOTUA as he deems a verbal presentation smacks of a monarchy
1913 - Woodrow Wilson re-established the speech format of the SOTUA
1917 - Woodrow Wilson makes the first night SOTUA address to Congress
1923 - Calvin Coolidge makes the first radio SOTUA address
1934 - First time SOTUA address title is used. Prior to this it is known as The President's Annual Message to Congress
1936 - Franklin D. Roosevelt makes the second evening SOTUA address
1947 - Harry Truman makes the first televised SOTUA
1965 - Lyndon Johnson starts the regular night time SOTUA format that continues through today
1966 - First time rebuttal SOTUA given by the opposition party
1981 - Jimmy Carter is the last president to issue a SOTUA as he leaves office
1982 - Ronald Reagan starts tradition of having VIP guests with the First Lady Lenny Skutnik, a hero who rescued survivors of the Air Florida disaster at the 14th Street Bridge the month before, is recognized by the president
1986 - Ronald Reagan is first and only President to delay (by a week) his SOTUA. This was due to the space shuttle Challenger tragedy
1989 - George Herbert Walker Bush starts tradition of not labeling his first address to Congress as a SOTUA
1997 - Bill Clinton is first president to give his SOTUA via the world wide web
2004 - Democratic Party first to use both English and Spanish in their rebuttal to SOTUA
It should be noted in closing this column that the date in January is not a set date but varies constantly. Also at least one cabinet member and a number of members of Congress are always absent to attend to any catastrophe which may occur during the SOTUA.
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