The State of the Union

The State of the Union: a little History

I want to preface this post first by saying that I'm not going to talk about what President Obama talked about last night. If I did my rage-o-meter would ping off the scale. What I would like to talk about is a little history of the State of the Union address. How the State of the Union's delivery has changed is important to know. As the delivery changed the Address reached more and more people as the people gained access to newer technologies.

Article II, Sec. 3, of the U.S. Constitution requires that, "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." Ok, so we know that the President is supposed to "from time to time" address the congress. Well, we know that the Address happens every year in recent history. But I asked myself was there a time that it didn't happen? When was the first radio Address? When was the first television Address? When was the first Address made? and last but not least, When was the first time that the Address was streamed online? Well I can best answer that with a time line of firsts for the Address.

• January 8, 1790
• President Washington addresses a joint session of the House and Senate in New York, the nation's capitol at the time.
• December 1923
• President Coolidge's Address is the first to be broadcast on the radio
• January 6, 1947
• President Truman's Address is the first to be broadcast on television
• January 1965
• President Johnson decided to move the time of the Address from the morning to the evening to reach a greater television audience
• January 1986
• President Reagan is the only president to postpone the Address due to the news of the time (the Space Shuttle Challenger accident) it is also the only time that the Justices were not in attendance for the Address
• January 1997
• President Clinton’s Address is the first to be made available live online

Thomas Jefferson didn't address the congress in person, instead he sent his address in the form of a letter to be read by a clerk. President Wilson reinstated the live speech in 1913.

The upgrade in delivery, from oral to type, back to oral then to live voice, and then to live video, matches (mostly) the other types of media upgrades. As technology developed so did the delivery of the Address. The president's audience shifted from a purely Congressional audience to an audience of mostly citizens. While the venue of the Address hasn't changed, because the audience has changed and expanded, the style of the speech as followed suit.

If you would like to learn greater details about the State of the Union Address you can go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_the_Union_address
http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/SOTU00/history/index.html
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/souhistory.htm
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents