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2000 The State of the Union
Message
The annual State of the Union Message is a vital
forum to promote presidential priorities for the coming year. The message
serves as a report to Congress and the nation on national conditions; as a
platform to announce and rally support for the President's legislative
agenda for the coming year; and as a unique opportunity for the Chief Executive
to personally convey his vision for the nation to Congress and the American
people. The State of the Union Message gives the President an opportunity to
exercise legislative leadership by assessing current national conditions and
making recommendations for future policy.
The State of the Union Message is usually
delivered by the President at an evening joint session of Congress during the
second, third, or fourth week of January. When a President indicates that he is
coming to deliver a State of the Union Message, Congress responds by passing a
resolution calling "a joint session of Congress to receive a message from the
President on the State of the Union."
President Clinton will deliver his State of the
Union Message on Thursday, January 27 at 9:00 p.m.
History of the
Message
A Constitutional Requirement
Article II, Section III, Clause 1 of the U.S.
Constitution states that 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." It is
this constitutional requirement that forms the basis of the State of the Union
Message.
The idea of a State of the Union Message traces
back to the British practice of opening Parliament with the Speech from the
Throne. It was originally titled the "President's Annual Message to
Congress."
The First Message
George Washington gave the first State of the
Union Message on January 8, 1790, before a joint
session of the House and Senate in New York, then the nation's capital. In his
speech, Washington urged the legislators to consider how best to advance
science and learning in the new country and talked about the need for improved
roads and a postal system. Congress responded to Washington's speech just as
the British parliament had traditionally responded to a speech by the king:
they drafted and delivered a response that closely mirrored Washington's
speech, pledging Congressional cooperation.
Breaking with Tradition
The tradition established by George Washington and
John Adams of delivering the State of the Union Message in person was broken
with Thomas Jefferson's presidency. Jefferson felt that the act of the
President speaking in person before Congress was time consuming and
monarchical, resembling too closely the nation's royal past. In his pledge
to "return to simple, republican forms of Government," Jefferson broke with
tradition and delivered his annual messages in writing by messenger, with no
invitation to Congress to respond:
"By sending a message, instead of making a
speech at the opening of the session, I have prevented the bloody conflict [to]
which the making an answer would have committed them. They consequently were
able to be sent into real business at once."
Jefferson avoided discussing specific measures in
his messages, fearing they might appear as regal edicts, instead broadly
stating his recommendations. Not until Andrew Jackson did a president champion
specific issues in the annual address. After a long string of post-Civil war
presidents who viewed the State of the Union address as a means to placate
Congress, Theodore Roosevelt saw the occasion as a "bully pulpit" to mold the
nation.
Jefferson's precedent of submitting the
annual message in writing lasted through the next 24 presidents until 1913,
when Woodrow Wilson personally delivered his address to Congress. President
Franklin Roosevelt adopted Wilson's practice of personal delivery, and it
has since become a 20th century tradition.
Media Coverage of the Message
Before the advent of radio, the State of the Union
Message was transmitted to the public by the print media. Historian Charles
Beard observed that the annual message was:
"…the one great public document of the
United States which is widely read and discussed. Congressional debates receive
scant notice, but the President's message is ordinarily printed in full in
nearly every metropolitan daily, and is the subject of general editorial
comment throughout the length and breadth of the land. It stirs the country: it
often affects Congressional elections; and it may establish grand
policy."
Calvin Coolidge was the first President to use
radio for a State of the Union address, in 1923. FDR used both the radio and a
personal appearance before Congress. President Harry Truman's 1947 State
of the Union Message was the first to be broadcast by television. With the
advent of radio and television coverage of the address, the State of the Union
Message has gained great importance by providing a nationwide platform for the
President.
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