The Constitution says, “”The President 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.” Article II, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution
Prior to the 20th Century, the State of the Union was referred to as the President’s Annual Message. It was often delivered as a written report to Congress where a clerk would read it. As the President’s Annual Message is in fact an earlier name for the State of the Union, all of these are labeled as State of the Union Addresses at this site.
Here are the State of the Union Addresses of the American Presidents:
George Washington 1790, 1790 Dec, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796
John Adams 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800
Thomas Jefferson 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808
James Madison 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816
James Monroe 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824
John Quincy Adams 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828
Andrew Jackson 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1836
Martin Van Buren 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840
William Henry Harrison None
John Tyler 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844
James Knox Polk 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848
Zachary Taylor 1849
Millard Fillmore 1850, 1851, 1852
Franklin Pierce 1853, 1854, 1855, 1856
James Buchanan 1857, 1858, 1859, 1860
Abraham Lincoln 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864
Andrew Johnson 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868
Ulyssess S. Grant 1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876
Rutherford B. Hayes 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880
James A. Garfield None
Chester Arthur 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884
Grover Cleveland 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888
Benjamin Harrison 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892
Grover Cleveland 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896
William McKinley 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900
Theodore Roosevelt 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908
William Howard Taft 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912
Woodrow Wilson 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920
Calvin Coolidge 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928
Herbert Hoover 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932
Franklin D. Roosevelt 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945
Harry S. Truman 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961
John F. Kennedy 1961, 1962, 1963
Lyndon B. Johnson 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
Richard M. Nixon 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974
Jimmy Carter 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Ronald Reagan 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
George Bush 1989 (*), 1990, 1991, 1992
Bill Clinton 1993 (*), 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
George W. Bush 2001(*), 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
* Note that these speeches are not officially listed as State of the Union Addresses. Regardless, they were perceived as being State of the Union Addresses by the press and the public at the time they were delivered and are commonly remembered as being State of the Union Addresses. They are accordingly treated as such by this site.