Author Description

"He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union..." The Constitution of the United States, under the above words in Article II Section 3, require the President to give a State of the Union message to the Congress from time to time on no set schedule. Tradition has made this a yearly message from the President to Congress. The message now is made in a speech by the President before Congress, George Washington and John Adams delivered the message in person. Then for more than 100 years after this the message was delivered and read in the Congress. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, Presidents have delivered the message in a speech before Congress. The State of the Union usually has an important influnce on public opinion. It has been used to bring forth important policy positions such as the Monroe Doctrine. The State of the Union messages in this compilation are from Gerald R. Ford.