USA Presidents

The State of the Union is an annual address presented before a joint session of Congress and held in the House of Representatives Chamber at the U.S. Capitol. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation, but also allows the president to outline his/her legislative agenda and national priorities to Congress.

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

Warren G. Harding 1921, 1922

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

Gerald Ford   1975, 1976, 1977

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.