State of the Union

Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution directs that the President shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend measures he judges necessary. George Washington delivered the first annual message in person in New York on January 8, 1790. Thomas Jefferson, who thought a speech resembled a monarch's address from the throne, sent his message in writing in 1801, and written messages remained the practice for more than a century until Woodrow Wilson revived the in-person address on December 2, 1913.

The address is delivered at the invitation of the Speaker, usually in January or February, after Congress adopts a concurrent resolution providing for a joint session. Members of both chambers, the cabinet, the Supreme Court Justices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and diplomats attend, and one cabinet member stays away as the designated survivor in case of catastrophe. Calvin Coolidge's 1923 message was the first broadcast on radio, Harry Truman's 1947 address was the first on television, and Lyndon Johnson moved it to prime time in 1965. Since 1966 the opposition party has delivered a televised response.

A new President's first speech to Congress, delivered shortly after inauguration, is usually called an address to a joint session rather than a State of the Union, as with the address of March 4, 2025. The speech lays out the administration's agenda, though many proposals never become law, and it has become a political spectacle marked by partisan applause, invited guests in the gallery, and occasional protests. Supporters say it gives the President a unique platform to speak to the nation and Congress, while critics say it has become theater with little effect on policy.