Inside the State of the Union, facts and figures
President Barack Obama gives the annual State of the Union speech tonight, so here are a few facts and figures behind the event:
*- The State of the Union is a message from the President actually directed to Congress (although in reality written for the people), usually given once a year in January. The State of the Union messages are mandated by Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution which states: “He 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.” Since 1790 State of the Union messages have been delivered regularly at approximately one-year intervals.
*-When the President arrives, he is escorted to the chamber by members of both the House and the Senate. The arrival of the President is announced by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives. The Speaker then introduces the President, who delivers his speech to the Congress.
*-In custom, one member of the President’s Cabinet does not attend the State of the Union address. This is basically a failsafe to where if Congress was bombed or something else catastrophic happened there, the Cabinet member who did not attend could then take over the duties of the President. After the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Congress began designating one senator and one representative from each party not to attend the speech.
*-The State of the Union hasn’t always been a speech – it used to be a written message, beginning with Thomas Jefferson’s first (1801) and until William Howard Taft’s final message (1912). Franklin D. Roosevelt established the modern tradition of delivering an oral State of the Union beginning with his first in 1934. But exceptions include Truman’s 1st (1946) and last (1953), Eisenhower’s last (1961), Carter’s last (1981), and Nixon’s 4th (1973). In addition, Roosevelt’s last (1945) and Eisenhower’s 4th (1956) were technically written messages although they addressed the American people via radio summarizing their reports.
*-The message was not called the “State of the Union” until FDR used that phrase in 1935. Until then, the speech was referred to as the “Annual Message.”
*-The first State of the Union message was given by George Washington in 1790. It was also the shortest message (833 words).
*-The longest State of the Union Message was given in 1946 by President Truman. It was more than 25,000 words long.
*-In 1923, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to broadcast his speech on the radio. In 1947, Truman became the first president to deliver the address on television. In 2002, George W. Bush’s address was the first to be made available as a live Webcast on the White House Web site.
