A Time Honored Tradition
On a cold January morning in 1790, George Washington stood in front of Congress and delivered the first State of the Union address.
As the leader of a fledgling nation finding its footing, his precedent has evolved with time, but its essence remains standing to this day.
Though Thomas Jefferson elected to send written messages instead of speaking, Woodrow Wilson reinstated the practice of delivering the address in person.
In 1947, Harry Truman delivered the first address to be televised, which has been the preferred medium ever since.
As we delve into the story of a long-standing tradition, we ask:
How do the echoes of State of the Union addresses resonate through time?
Welcome to The Words of the Union, a journey through the realm of State of the Union addresses. Here, each speech is a key that unlocks the secrets of leadership and guides the narrative of a nation.
As we unravel the power behind the podium, join us on a captivating adventure through time, where every word becomes a brushstroke on the canvas of history...
More than just tradition, the State of the Union is actually a Constitutional mandate!
That means presidents can take as much time as they need to update Congress on anything they think merits the nation's attention.
So, how many words does it take to steer history's course?
Place your bet! Which president, on average, delivered the longest speeches during their time in office? Let's find out!"
and over 200 Hours
While Jimmy Carter holds the record for the longest address– 33.6K words in 1981, George Washington holds the record for brevity, using just under 1.1K words in 1790.
Over 233 years, presidential voices have offered nearly 2,000,000 words on the state of the nation.
With an average speech length of 8,000 words and speaking at a rate of 150 words per minute, that means presidential voices have echoed for more than 200 cumulative captivating hours.
State of the Union addresses change depending on the issues facing the nation and the individual speaking.
However, some speeches are more similar* than others.
*Similarity scores were assigned using cosine similarity, which is an NLP metric to measure the similarity of text.For example, addresses given by Democrats in the past 30 years have a high degree of similarity.
Perhaps surprisingly, this similarity also largely extends to speeches given by Republicans*.
This may be due to the tradition of speeches having a formal "Presidential tone" and a refrain of common themes that many presidents tend to address throughout history.
*With the exception of speeches given by President Trump.On the other hand, different addresses delivered by a President during their tenure may be influenced by the current events.
For instance, President Bush's 2002 address following 9/11 differed from his speech the previous year.
Similarly, President Obama's first annual address in 2009, amidst the financial crisis, exhibited variations from his subsequent speeches.
Over the course of history, specific talking points may come and go, but several general themes remain:
- Borders and Territory
- Climate, Energy, and Environment
- Economy and Finance
- Guns and Weapons
- Immigration
- Law and Crime
- War, Peace, and the Military
"War" is a prevalent and escalating theme in presidential discussions, encompassing topics from international conflicts to peace declarations and post-war reconstruction.
Though the themes remain consistent, the way in which Presidents talk about them changes.
This chart uses dots to signify mentions of words associated with a theme, where the most positive references are encoded as +1 and the most negative as -1.
Each bar corresponds to the total mentions of a theme in a given year.
For example, in 1906, Teddy Roosevelt mentioned words related to Crime and Law 100 times.
Among other topics, his speech spends a significant amount of time calling for the right to appeal in criminal cases, stricter corruption laws, and "[prohibition] on all corporations from contributing to the campaign expenses of any party".
In 1897, William McKinley advocated for a peaceful and humane resolution to the war for independence between Cuba and Spain, referencing the conflict around 94 times.
One of the objectives of the State of the Union is to address imminent challenges facing the nation.
Adversarial relations, conflicts, and international tensions have all taken the spotlight from time to time.
In recent years, the focus of State of the Union addresses has shifted from prominent mentions of Mexico, a neighbor, and Great Britain, a longstanding ally...
...to an emphasis on American adversaries and countries with which the United States has engaged in conflicts.
Over the past decade, China, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea have featured prominently in these addresses, marking a notable shift in the geopolitical landscape addressed by U.S. presidents.
As we come to the end of our journey, we ask:
How have State of the Union addresses shaped history?
Consider some key thoughts →
- The American Presidency Project
UC Santa Barbara - State of the Union Addresses
Project Gutenberg - History, Art, and Archives
US House of Representatives - The complete history of the US State of the Union address
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