201901.27
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With the government shutdown over, will there be a State of the Union address?

by in News

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi rescinded the invitation to President Donald Trump to give the State of the Union address at the House of Representatives until the government shutdown was ended.

The president announced Friday the shutdown would end, and the date of the State of the Union has not been set. It’s unclear where and how the president will give the State of the Union address that was expected to be delivered to a joint session of Congress on Jan. 29.

Pelosi and Trump letters

Addressing the nation

Including President Trump’s 2018 address, there have been 95 in-person annual messages/State of the Union addresses.

Origins and authorization

The formal basis for the State of the Union address is from the U.S. Constitution: The President “shall from time to time give to the 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, Clause 1)

Name changes

It was formally known as the Annual Message from 1790 to 1946. It began to be informally called the “state of the Union” message/address from 1942 to 1946. Since 1947, it has officially been known as the State of the Union address.

Other reports to Congress

During the 20th century, Congress required more specialized reports on these two aspects, separate from the annual message.

Budget Message: required by the National Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to be delivered to Congress no more than two weeks after Congress convenes in January.

Economic Report: required by the Employment Act of 1946 with a flexible delivery date.

Changing focus

In the 19th century, the annual message was also a lengthy administrative report on the various departments. After 1913, Woodrow Wilson began presenting the message to Congress in person as a platform to rally support for his agenda.

Technological change

  • First radio broadcast of Annual Message: President Calvin Coolidge, 1923
  • First television broadcast: President Harry Truman, 1947
  • First televised evening delivery: President Lyndon Johnson, 1965
  • First live webcast: President George W. Bush, 2002
  • First high-definition TV broadcast: Bush, 2004

Record holders

  • Longest: President Jimmy Carter, 33,667 words, 1981 (written). President Bill Clinton, 9,190 words, 1995 (spoken)
  • Shortest: President George Washington, 1790, 1,089 words
  • Average: 19th century was about 10,000 words; late 20th century, about 5,000 words
  • Most given: President Franklin Roosevelt, 12 (10 were personal appearances before Congress)
  • Fewest: President William Henry Harrison, 0; President James A. Garfield, 0

Name that speech

The American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara created word clouds from the most frequently used words by presidents in State of the Union addresses. See if you can match the president to the word cloud.

1. President Richard Nixon

2. President Clinton

3. President Trump

4. President Barack ObamaWord Cloud

Sources: House of Representatives, American Presidency Project, The Associated Press

ANSWERS

1-D, 2-C, 3-A, 4-B