United States Presidential State of the Union Addresses, 1913-2008

This data collection contains all State of the Union addresses from Woodrow Wilson in 1913 to George W. Bush in 2008. Article II, Section 3, of the United States Constitution states that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both House, or either of them . . ." That brief passage has provided the authority for presidents to deliver annual reports to the United States Congress. From the beginning, these reports were known as "Annual Messages." In the first quarter of the twentieth century, they began to be called "State of the Union addresses." George Washington decided to deliver his messages as speeches before a joint session of Congress. His successor, Thomas Jefferson, chose to send written reports. All subsequent presidents sent written messages until, during his first term, Woodrow Wilson convened Congress in 1913 to hear his address. Wilson continued to deliver his addresses in person until 1919, when he became severely ill for the rest of his second term. President Harding resumed the speaking tradition. It remains today and accounts for calling these reports to Congress "addresses" rather than "messages".