Overview

The State of the Union is the annual report delivered by the President of the United States to a joint session of the Congress on the current condition of the nation, as well as major legislative agendas and policy initiatives that require cooperation between the administration and lawmakers. With the rise of the social media and technological advancements in digital communications, the annual presidential address has become a recurring trend online under the acronymic hashtag #SOTU.

Background

The long-running American political tradition is mandated by Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which requires the President to periodically inform the Congress on the "state of the union" and discuss other measures that are deemed to be "necessary and expedient" national priorities.

He 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.

Customs

While the mandate was initially fulfilled by delivering a written report to the Congress, every president since Woodrow Wilson has given a speech before a joint session of the Congress. The address is typically given during the first month of each year in the House of Representatives chamber of the U.S. Capitol building, with the Vice President and the Speaker of the House sitting behind the President and all members of the Congress and the President's Cabinet in attendance. As a precautionary measure, one cabinet member is usually absent as the designated survivor in order to provide continuity in the line of presidential succession in the event of a catastrophe. With the technological advancements in broadcast and online media, the event has largely become standardized in format and length as to reach the largest audience across the country; it typically begins after 9 p.m. (ET) on an evening in January or early February and lasts a little over one hour on average, which is then followed by an official response or rebuttal by a member of the opposition party televised directly to the viewers. Since 2012, the annual address has been livestreamed in real-time through the website of the White House.

Notable Developments

George W. Bush (2002 – 2008)

President Bush's State of the Union addresses were heavily outlined by events that unfolded in the wake of the 9/11 attacks shortly after he was sworn into office. His first address in 2002 introduced several new terms that would go on to define major foreign policies of his presidency, including "The Axis of Evil," comprised of Iran, Iraq and North Korea, "The Global War on Terrorism" and "Weapons of Mass Destruction." In 2003, Bush pushed on his critical tone against the government of Iraq, describing its leader Saddam Hussein as "a brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealth" in pursuit of biological, chemical, nuclear weapons, as encapsulated in his now-infamous quote that has been dubbed the "16 words":

"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

During the second term of his presidency, Bush's SOTU addresses became increasingly balanced between domestic and foreign policies in subject matters, with more weight given to the state of the American economy and education. In 2007, Bush gave his first address to a Democratic-controlled Congress since entering office, with Nancy Pelosi becoming the first woman in American history to stand on the podium as the Speaker of the House during a SOTU address.

Barack Obama (2010 – 2016)

In stark contrast to his predecessor, President Obama's SOTU addresses were focused on policy initiatives and legislative agendas at home. In 2010, the scheduling of President Obama's first SOTU address became a minor subject of online protests and gossips, as one of the two dates that were being considered for the broadcast coincided with the scheduled premiere of the final season of ABC's popular TV series Lost. On January 8th, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs playfully explained the administration's decision with a direct reference to the show:

"I don't foresee a scenario in which millions of people who hope to finally get some conclusion with Lost are preempted by the president."

In response, Damon Lindelof, one of the co-creators of Lost, tweeted "OBAMA BACKED DOWN!!!! Groundhog Day is OURS!!!!!!! (God Bless America)". In 2011, President Obama and the Congress departed from a nearly century-old tradition of party-designated seating during the SOTU addresses by sitting together regardless of party affiliation. In 2013, for the first time in history of SOTU addresses, President Obama's speech was simulcast online by the White House website, accompanied by visual aids and graphics for key points of the address. In 2015, President Obama identified the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) as a new threat to global security and became the first president to use the words lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender in a SOTU address while emphasizing the need to protect the human rights.

Donald Trump (2016 – 2020)

President Trump gave his first SOTU address in late January 2018, amidst escalating public backlash against a series of controversial policy decisions and remarks he had made: the travel ban on Islamic countries, his ambivalent response to violence at the Unite the Right rally and vulgar description countries of African nations. In the weeks leading up to it, several lawmakers announced their boycott of the SOTU address in protest, while a number of anti-Trump celebrities organized a counter-program titled "People's State of the Union" to be aired at the same time as the event.

President Trump opened the speech with self-congratulatory remarks on improving the economy and followed down the usual path of SOTU addresses, touching on his foreign policy and immigration policy, as told through stories of various American citizens, and a call for bipartisanship and unity.

News Media Coverage

Since President Woodrow Wilson began delivering the speech in person, the presentation of the SOTU address has evolved in parallel to technological advancements; the first radio broadcast of the address began with President Calvin Coolidge's speech in 1923, followed by the first television broadcast of the address by President Harry Truman in 1947 and the first online live-streaming of the address by President George W. Bush in 2002. During the first two decades of the 21st century, the live coverage of the SOTU address extended across all major television networks and cable news channels, as well as international news outlets.

Related Memes

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Joe Wilson's "You Lie" Interruption

During the 2009 SOTU speech, South Carolina's Republican congressman Joe Wilson yelled “You lie!” as President Obama addressed the significance of the much-contested healthcare bill. In the coming days, the Republican Party issued a statement formally rebuking Wilson's conduct, while many people on the social media mocked the congressman by drawing comparisons to Kanye West’s interruption of Taylor Swift’s speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards that was held four days later.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg's Nap

During the 2010 SOTU address, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was photographed dozing off as President Obama delivered his speech. In 2015, Justice Bader was seen falling asleep for the second time during Obama's SOTU speech. When asked about whether or not she had actually fallen asleep, and she admitted that before the speech, she and the other justices had gone out for "dinner and drinks" and that she was not "100% sober" during the proceedings.

Marco Rubio's Water Break

Following the broadcast of the 2013 SOTU address, Florida's Republican senator Marco Rubio delivered the GOP’s rebuttal to President Obama's speech. While speaking to the camera, Rubio nervously reached over to drink from a bottle of water before continuing on with the speech. Senator Rubio’s "awkward water break”:https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/marco-rubios-water-break was broadcast live across the country and an isolated clip of the blooper was subsequently uploaded online by YouTuber dkostv (shown below). Within the first 24 hours, the video received over 184,000 views and 840 comments.

Proud Joe Biden

During the 2015 SOTU address, a screen capture of Vice President Joe Biden wearing a smug facial expression began circulating on Twitter and Vine (shown below). Later that evening, BuzzFeed^[2] published a compilation of "Proud Joe Biden" tweets.

Ernest Moniz' Hair

During the 2015 SOTU address, the Funny Or Die Twitter feed posted a screen captured image of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz with the caption "Please show this guy again. #SOTU" (shown below, left). In less than 24 hours, the post garnered more than 3,100 favorites and 2,700 retweets. Other Twitter subsequently tweeted photos of Moniz, with many joking about his unique hairstyle (shown below, right).^[4]

Bread Bag Story

Following the 2015 SOTU address, Republican Senator Joni Ernst delivered the GOP rebuttal, during which she described wearing bread bags on her feet while walking to school as a child:

"You see, growing up, I had only one good pair of shoes. So on rainy school days, my mom would slip plastic bread bags over them to keep them dry. But I was never embarrassed. Because the school bus would be filled with rows and rows of young Iowans with bread bags slipped over their feet."

On Twitter, many users joked about the bizarre story (shown below).^[5][6]

Search Interest

External References