By Howard Goller
Feb 21 (Reuters) - What began as a spare presidential report to the U.S. Congress has hardened into a prime-time pressure chamber shaped by an era of fierce polarization, with the State of the Union speech now unfolding as a long night of choreographed tension and open confrontation - a moment for presidents to wrest narrative from turmoil and craft the defining images of their time in power.
President Donald Trump will deliver his speech to Congress at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday (0200 GMT on Wednesday), a far cry from President George Washington's first address in 1790 - a brisk 1,089-word report that could be read in less time than many modern presidents take to clear their throats.
In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson took a different approach by sending a written message rather than speaking in person, a practice that endured for more than a century. Only in 1913 did President Woodrow Wilson resume the tradition of delivering the message in person.
President Harry Truman in 1947 delivered the first televised State of the Union address, marking the beginning of a new era in presidential communication. President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 delivered the first prime-time State of the Union address to maximize television viewership.
Since then, the nighttime speeches have grown more raucous as partisan divisions have sharpened, with the president's party often rising in applause while the opposition pointedly remains seated.
This year, a group of Democrats will abandon Trump's speech for an outdoor rally against his policies. After the speech, newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, will deliver the traditional televised response.
Heightening the suspense, Trump will come face to face with justices of the Supreme Court four days after a 6–3 majority — including two Trump appointees — struck down his signature tariffs as an overreach of presidential authority.
WHEN THE SPEECHES STRETCHED TO NEW LENGTHS
Recent presidents have gone far longer than George Washington did.
President Bill Clinton set a record in 2000 with a State of the Union speech lasting 1 hour, 28 minutes and 49 seconds. Trump's 2025 address ran even longer at 1 hour, 39 minutes and 32 seconds, according to the American Presidency Project.
Trump's speech last year came too soon after his return to the presidency to be formally considered a State of the Union speech. As with other presidents just assuming office, his was branded merely a joint address to Congress.
President Ronald Reagan launched the tradition of inviting special guests in 1982 by introducing Lenny Skutnik, a Congressional Budget Office employee who heroically rescued a plane crash survivor from the Potomac River.
Such honors have been contentious at times, such as in 2020 when Trump, a former reality TV star, awarded the highest U.S. civilian honour - the Presidential Medal of Freedom - to polarizing radio show host Rush Limbaugh.
VIRAL CLASHES THAT REDEFINED THE STATE OF THE UNION
Advertisement
In more recent years, some of the more monumental moments during presidential speeches to Congress have been confrontational and gone viral.
* In 2009: 'YOU LIE,' OBAMA IS TOLD
Republican Representative Joe Wilson shouted, "You lie!" at Democratic President Barack Obama during a healthcare speech to Congress, though it was not a State of the Union address. Wilson was protesting Obama's statement that healthcare plans then being considered in Congress would not insure immigrants who entered the country illegally. Wilson later apologized in the face of bipartisan criticism over the rare breach of protocol in a presidential address.
* In 2010: A SUPREME COURT SCOWL HEARD NATIONWIDE
When the following year Obama sharply criticized the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling that he said would "open the floodgates" to unlimited corporate and potentially foreign money in U.S. elections, Justice Samuel Alito reacted by shaking his head and appearing to mouth "not true," a rare breach of the justices' traditionally impassive demeanor.
* In 2020: TRUMP-PELOSI FEUD IN PRIME TIME
Trump, a Republican, snubbed U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democratic elected official in Washington, declining to shake her hand as he handed her a paper copy of his State of the Union speech. Pelosi avoided citing the customary "high privilege and distinct honor" that usually accompanies the speaker's introduction of the president to Congress. At the end of his 80-minute speech, Pelosi stood and ripped apart her copy of the remarks he had handed her as millions watched on television. She later told reporters it was "the courteous thing to do, considering the alternative."
* In 2023: BIDEN'S SPIRITED EXCHANGE WITH REPUBLICANS
Democratic President Joe Biden had a spirited exchange with Republican lawmakers after some of them interrupted and booed during his State of the Union address. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene yelled "liar" at Biden after the president said, "Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset." Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee yelled "it's your fault" at Biden over the U.S. fentanyl crisis.
* In 2024: BIDEN TAKES ON TRUMP AND THE REPUBLICANS
Biden drew sharp contrasts with Trump, accusing his Republican rival of undermining democracy, accommodating Russia and blocking immigration reform, while largely focusing his speech on Trump without naming him. Biden needled Republicans when they booed his claim they wanted to cut taxes for the wealthy, taunting them with an ad-libbed line questioning their objections to another $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy. "Oh, no? You guys don't want another $2 trillion tax cut? I kind of thought that's what your plan was," Biden said.
WHEN SPEECHES RESET U.S. POLICY
The State of the Union speeches have at times delivered policy landmarks.
In 1941, 11 months before the United States entered World War Two, President Franklin Roosevelt gave his "Four Freedoms" speech laying out freedoms people worldwide should have: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared an "unconditional War on Poverty," launching an ambitious sweep of social programs that reshaped federal spending and the government's role in economic opportunity.
In 1996, Clinton proclaimed that "the era of big government is over," signaling a recalibration aimed at drawing Republicans into a more bipartisan approach to governing. In 2002, President George W. Bush branded Iraq, Iran and North Korea an "axis of evil" in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, marking a turn toward a more assertive foreign policy.
(Reporting by Howard Goller in Los Angeles; Editing by Will Dunham)