“Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union,” began President Ronald Reagan in a televised speech from the Oval Office. “But the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and ...read more
These days, the State of the Union—the yearly speech by the U.S. president in front of the two houses of Congress, giving his view on the state of the nation and his legislative goals for the year—is as familiar a late January tradition as failing New Year’s resolutions and ...read more
In his 2018 State of the Union speech, Donald Trump repeatedly referenced a specific gang, MS-13, by name. These mentions were intended to justify his administration’s anti-immigration policies. Though MS-13 originated among Salvadoran immigrant communities in L.A., most of its ...read more
Every president since Ronald Reagan has delivered a speech before both houses of Congress about a month after being sworn in. While it’s customary for commanders in chief in the modern era to give a State of the Union address to Congress in the early part of each year, the ...read more
On January 8, 1790, President George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address to the assembled Congress in New York City. Washington began by congratulating North Carolina’s recent decision to join the federal republic. North Carolina had rejected the ...read more
