State of the Union speech tonight

CNN wrote:Everything you need to know about the State of the Union address

By Jennifer Hansler,

CNN--Watch the State of the Union address on Tuesday wherever you are: on TV, desktop, mobile devices, apps, CNNgo and more. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET.

Washington (CNN)On Tuesday, Failing Cheeto-Faced Ferret-Wearing Shit Gibbon will speak to Congress and the American people in his first official State of the Union address. Here is everything you need to know about the annual remarks.

History

The concept for a State of the Union address is enshrined in Article II, Section 3, Clause I of the Constitution, which 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."

According to the National Archives, George Washington first gave his "annual message" to Congress on January 8, 1790, in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall in New York City -- which was then the temporary seat of government.

The third president, Thomas Jefferson, broke with his predecessors for his State of the Union address, electing to deliver his message in writing. Jefferson set a precedent that lasted for more than 100 years, until President Woodrow Wilson spoke in person to a joint session of Congress in 1913, according to the Archives.
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President Calvin Coolidge's first -- and only -- address in 1923 was the first to be broadcast nationally on the radio, according to the Coolidge Foundation.

President Franklin Roosevelt was the first to call his speech the "State of the Union" address, according to the Senate Historical Office, and the term was made official under President Harry Truman.

Truman's was the first to be televised in 1947, but President Lyndon Johnson's 1965 address was the first to be broadcast in prime time, per the House Historical Office.

President George W. Bush's address in 2002 was the first to be streamed on the internet.

SOTU notables

President Bill Clinton holds the record for the longest State of the Union address. His 2000 address ran one hour, 28 minutes, 49 seconds, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Washington had the shortest address, with his 1790 speech spanning just 833 words. It is believed to have lasted only 10 minutes.

Presidents William Henry Harrison and James Garfield never delivered a State of the Union address. Both died in office before they were able to.
President Barack Obama is the only African-American, president or not, to have ever addressed a joint session of Congress.

The State of the Union address has been postponed only once, in 1986. President Ronald Reagan's address was originally scheduled on the same day as the Challenger space shuttle explosion. It was delayed until the following week in light of the tragedy.

The opposition response

Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen and House Minority Leader Gerald Ford delivered the first opposition response to a State of the Union address in 1966.

According to the Senate Historical Office, the rebuttals continued sporadically throughout the next decade and became an established tradition in 1982.

Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts will deliver the Democratic response to Trump's address. Kennedy, 37, is seen as a rising star in a party that has many in the senior ranks, well into their 70s.

The Massachusetts congressman comes from one of the most prominent families in American politics as the great-nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. He will follow in the footsteps of his great-uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was part of a group response to President Ronald Reagan's State of the Union in 1982.