State of the Union Archives

Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 State of the Union

November 9, 2022January 12, 2016 by ghostsofdc

Woodrow Wilson revived the tradition of the oral State of the Union address (1913)

The first State of the Union was in 1800 by our second president, John Adams. Thomas Jefferson began the tradition of passing along the state of the union in writing to Congress, allegedly because he felt he was an inadequate public speaker. In 1913, the task of speaking directly to a joint session of Congress … Read more

Watch and Read Ronald Reagan’s First State of the Union Address

December 23, 2021March 18, 2012 by ghostsofdc

This is pretty amusing and a nice short video to share on a Sunday. This is the opening of Ronald Reagan’s first State of the Union address to Congress, given on January 26th, 1982. The best part is about 50 seconds into the clip.

Below is the original speech I found on Wikipedia.

Unpacking the Four Essential Human Freedoms: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union Speech

January 20, 2023January 24, 2012 by ghostsofdc

This is one of the greatest State of the Union speeches of all time … the one given, twelve presidents ago, by Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6th, 1941. If you want the full text of the speech, go here.