COMPLETE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES FROM 1790 TO THE PRESENT VARIOUS∗ The addresses are separated by three asterisks: CONTENTS George Washington, State of the Union Address, January 8, 1790 George Washington, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1790 George Washington, State of the Union Address, October 25, 1791 George Washington, State of the Union Address, November 6, 1792 George Washington, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1793 George Washington, State of the Union Address, November 19, 1794 George Washington, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1795 George Washington, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1796 John Adams, State of the Union Address, November 22, 1797 John Adams, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1798 John Adams, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1799 John Adams, State of the Union Address, November 11, 1800 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1801 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, December 15, 1802 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, October 17, 1803 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, November 8, 1804 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1805 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1806 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, October 27, 1807 Thomas Jefferson, State of the Union Address, November 8, 1808 James Madison, State of the Union Address, November 29, 1809 James Madison, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1810 James Madison, State of the Union Address, November 5, 1811 James Madison, State of the Union Address, November 4, 1812 James Madison, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1813 James Madison, State of the Union Address, September 20, 1814 James Madison, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1815 James Madison, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1816 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, December 12, 1817 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, November 16, 1818 ∗PDFcreatedbypdfbooks.co.za 1 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1819 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, November 14, 1820 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1821 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1822 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1823 James Monroe, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1824 John Quincy Adams, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1825 John Quincy Adams, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1826 John Quincy Adams, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1827 John Quincy Adams, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1828 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1829 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1830 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1831 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1832 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1833 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 1, 1834 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1835 Andrew Jackson, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1836 Martin van Buren, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1837 Martin van Buren, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1838 Martin van Buren, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1839 Martin van Buren, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1840 John Tyler, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1841 John Tyler, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1842 John Tyler, State of the Union Address, December 1843 John Tyler, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1844 James Polk, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1845 James Polk, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1846 James Polk, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1847 James Polk, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1848 Zachary Taylor, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1849 Millard Fillmore, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1850 Millard Fillmore, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1851 Millard Fillmore, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1852 Franklin Pierce, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1853 Franklin Pierce, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1854 Franklin Pierce, State of the Union Address, December 31, 1855 Franklin Pierce, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1856 James Buchanan, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1857 James Buchanan, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1858 James Buchanan, State of the Union Address, December 19, 1859 James Buchanan, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1860 Abraham Lincoln, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1861 Abraham Lincoln, State of the Union Address, December 1, 1862 Abraham Lincoln, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1863 Abraham Lincoln, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1864 Andrew Johnson, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1865 Andrew Johnson, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1866 Andrew Johnson, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1867 Andrew Johnson, State of the Union Address, December 9, 1868 2 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1869 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1870 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1871 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1872 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 1, 1873 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1874 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1875 Ulysses S. Grant, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1878 Rutherford B. Hayes, State of the Union Address, December 1, 1879 Rutherford B. Hayes, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1880 Chester A. Arthur, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1881 Chester A. Arthur, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1882 Chester A. Arthur, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1883 Chester A. Arthur, State of the Union Address, December 1, 1884 Grover Cleveland, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1885 Grover Cleveland, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1886 Grover Cleveland, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1887 Grover Cleveland, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1888 Benjamin Harrison, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1889 Benjamin Harrison, State of the Union Address, December 1, 1890 Benjamin Harrison, State of the Union Address, December 9, 1891 Benjamin Harrison, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1892 William McKinley, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1897 William McKinley, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1898 William McKinley, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1899 William McKinley, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1900 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1901 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1902 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1903 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1904 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1905 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1906 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1907 Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1908 William H. Taft, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1909 William H. Taft, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1910 William H. Taft, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1911 William H. Taft, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1912 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1913 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1914 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1915 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 5, 1916 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1917 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1918 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1919 Woodrow Wilson, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1920 Warren Harding, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1921 3 Warren Harding, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1922 Calvin Coolidge, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1923 Calvin Coolidge, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1924 Calvin Coolidge, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1925 Calvin Coolidge, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1926 Calvin Coolidge, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1927 Calvin Coolidge, State of the Union Address, December 4, 1928 Herbert Hoover, State of the Union Address, December 3, 1929 Herbert Hoover, State of the Union Address, December 2, 1930 Herbert Hoover, State of the Union Address, December 8, 1931 Herbert Hoover, State of the Union Address, December 6, 1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 3, 1934 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 4, 1935 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 3, 1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 6, 1937 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 3, 1938 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 4, 1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 3, 1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 6, 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 6, 1942 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 7, 1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 11, 1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 6, 1945 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 21, 1946 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 6, 1947 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 7, 1948 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 5, 1949 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 4, 1950 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 8, 1951 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 9, 1952 Harry S. Truman, State of the Union Address, January 7, 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, February 2, 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 7, 1954 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 6, 1955 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 5, 1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 10, 1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 9, 1958 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 9, 1959 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 7, 1960 Dwight D. Eisenhower, State of the Union Address, January 12, 1961 John F. Kennedy, State of the Union Address, January 30, 1961 John F. Kennedy, State of the Union Address, January 11, 1962 John F. Kennedy, State of the Union Address, January 14, 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union Address, January 8, 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union Address, January 4, 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union Address, January 12, 1966 Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union Address, January 10, 1967 Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union Address, January 17, 1968 Lyndon B. Johnson, State of the Union Address, January 14, 1969 Richard Nixon, State of the Union Address, January 22, 1970 4 Richard Nixon, State of the Union Address, January 22, 1971 Richard Nixon, State of the Union Address, January 20, 1972 Richard Nixon, State of the Union Address, February 2, 1973 Richard Nixon, State of the Union Address, January 30, 1974 Gerald R. Ford, State of the Union Address, January 15, 1975 Gerald R. Ford, State of the Union Address, January 19, 1976 Gerald R. Ford, State of the Union Address, January 12, 1977 Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Address, January 19, 1978 Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Address, January 25, 1979 Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Address, January 21, 1980 Jimmy Carter, State of the Union Address, January 16, 1981 Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, January 26, 1982 Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, January 25, 1983 Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, January 25, 1984 Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, February 6, 1985 Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, February 4, 1986 Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, January 27, 1987 Ronald Reagan, State of the Union Address, January 25, 1988 George H.W. Bush, State of the Union Address, January 31, 1990 George H.W. Bush, State of the Union Address, January 29, 1991 George H.W. Bush, State of the Union Address, January 28, 1992 William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 25, 1994 William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 24, 1995 William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 23, 1996 William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, February 4, 1997 William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 27, 1998 William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 19, 1999 William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address, January 27, 2000 George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, January 29, 2002 State of the Union Address George Washington January 8, 1790 Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity which now presents itself of congratulating you on the present favorable prospects of our public affairs. The recent accession of the important state of north Carolina to the Constitution of the United States (of which official information has been received), the rising credit and respectability of our country, the general and increasing good will toward the government of the Union, and the concord, peace, and plenty with which we are blessed are circumstances auspicious in an eminent degree to our national prosperity. In resuming your consultations for the general good you can not but derive encouragement from the reflection that the measures of the last session 5 have been as satisfactory to your constituents as the novelty and difficulty of the work allowed you to hope. Still further to realize their expectations and to secure the blessings which a gracious Providence has placed within our reach will in the course of the present important session call for the cool and deliberate exertion of your patriotism, firmness, and wisdom. Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is on e of the most effectual means of preserving peace. A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies. Theproperestablishmentofthetroopswhichmaybedeemedindispensable will be entitled to mature consideration. In the arrangements which may be made respecting it it will be of importance to conciliate the comfortable support of the officers and soldiers with a due regard to economy. There was reason to hope that the pacific measures adopted with regard to certain hostile tribes of Indians would have relieved the inhabitants of our southern and western frontiers from their depredations, but you will perceive from the information contained in the papers which I shall direct tobelaidbeforeyou(comprehendingacommunicationfromtheCommonwealth of Virginia) that we ought to be prepared to afford protection to those parts of the Union, and, if necessary, to punish aggressors. The interests of the United States require that our intercourse with other nations should be facilitated by such provisions as will enable me to fulfill my duty in that respect in the manner which circumstances may render most conducive to the public good, and to this end that the compensation to be made to the persons who may be employed should, according to the nature of their appointments, be defined by law, and a competent fund designated for defraying the expenses incident to the conduct of foreign affairs. Various considerations also render it expedient that the terms on which foreigners may be admitted to the rights of citizens should be speedily ascertained by a uniform rule of naturalization. Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States is an object of great importance, and will, I am persuaded, be duly attended to. The advancement of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures by all proper means will not, I trust, need recommendation; but I can not forbear intimating to you the expediency of giving effectual encouragement as well 6 to the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad as to the exertions of skill and genius in producing them at home, and of facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our country by a due attention to the post-office and post-roads. Nor am I less persuaded that you will agree with me in opinion that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of government receive their impressions so immediately from the sense of the community as in ours it is proportionably essential. To the security of a free constitution it contributes in various ways - by convincing those who are intrusted with the public administration that every valuable end of government is best answered by the enlightened confidence of the people, and by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights; to discern and provide against invasions of them; to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority; between burthens proceeding from a disregard to their convenience and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of society; to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness - cherishing the first, avoiding the last - and uniting a speedy but temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable respect to the laws. Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by affording aids to seminaries of learning already established, by the institution of a national university, or by any other expedients will be well worthy of a place in the deliberations of the legislature. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: I saw with peculiar pleasure at the close of the last session the resolution entered into by you expressive of your opinion that an adequate provision for the support of the public credit is a matter of high importance to the national honor and prosperity. In this sentiment I entirely concur; and to a perfect confidence in your best endeavors to devise such a provision as will be truly with the end I add an equal reliance on the cheerful cooperation of the other branch of the legislature. It would be superfluous to specify inducements to a measure in which the character and interests of the United States are so obviously so deeply concerned, and which has received so explicit a sanction from your declaration. Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: I have directed the proper officers to lay before you, respectively, such papers and estimates as regard the affairs particularly recommended to your 7 consideration, and necessary to convey to you that information of the state of the Union which it is my duty to afford. The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed, and I shall derive great satisfaction from a cooperation with you in the pleasing though arduous task of insuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect from a free, efficient, and equal government. State of the Union Address George Washington December 8, 1790 Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: In meeting you again I feel much satisfaction in being able to repeat my congratulations on the favorable prospects which continue to distinguish our public affairs. The abundant fruits of another year have blessed our country with plenty and with the means of a flourishing commerce. The progress of public credit is witnessed by a considerable rise of American stock abroad as well as at home, and the revenues allotted for this and other national purposes have been productive beyond the calculations by which they were regulated. This latter circumstance is the more pleasing, as it is not only a proof of the fertility of our resources, but as it assures us of a further increase of the national respectability and credit, and, let me add, as it bears an honorable testimony to the patriotism and integrity of the mercantile and marine part of our citizens. The punctuality of the former in discharging their engagements has been exemplary. In conformity to the powers vested in me by acts of the last session, a loan of 3,000,000 florins, toward which some provisional measures had previously taken place, has been completed in Holland. As well the celerity with which it has been filled as the nature of the terms (considering the more than ordinary demand for borrowing created by the situation of Europe) give a reasonable hope that the further execution of those powers may proceed with advantage and success. The Secretary of the Treasury has my directions to communicate such further particulars as may be requisite for more precise information. Since your last sessions I have received communications by which it appears that the district of Kentucky, at present a part of Virginia, has concurred in certain propositions contained in a law of that State, in consequence of which the district is to become a distinct member of the Union, in case the requisite sanction of Congress be added. For this sanction application is now made. I shall cause the papers on this very transaction to be laid before you. 8 The liberality and harmony with which it has been conducted will be found to do great honor to both the parties, and the sentiments of warm attachment to the Union and its present Government expressed by our fellow citizens of Kentucky can not fail to add an affectionate concern for their particular welfare to the great national impressions under which you will decide on the case submitted to you. It has been heretofore known to Congress that frequent incursion have been made on our frontier settlements by certain banditti of Indians from the northwest side of the Ohio. These, with some of the tribes dwelling on and near the Wabash, have of late been particularly active in their depredations, and being emboldened by the impunity of their crimes and aided by such parts of the neighboring tribes as could be seduced to join in their hostilities or afford them a retreat for their prisoners and plunder, they have, instead of listening to the humane invitations and overtures made on the part of the United States, renewed their violences with fresh alacrity and greater effect. The lives of a number of valuable citizens have thus been sacrificed, and some of them under circumstances peculiarly shocking, whilst others have been carried into a deplorable captivity. These aggravated provocations rendered it essential to the safety of the Western settlements that the aggressors should be made sensible that the Government of the Union is not less capable of punishing their crimes than it is disposed to respect their rights and reward their attachments. As this object could not be effected by defensive measures, it became necessary to put in force the act which empowers the President to call out the militia for the protection of the frontiers, and I have accordingly authorized an expedition in which the regular troops in that quarter are combined with such drafts of militia as were deemed sufficient. The event of the measure is yet unknown to me. The Secretary of War is directed to lay before you a statement of the information on which it is founded, as well as an estimate of the expense with which it will be attended. The disturbed situation of Europe, and particularly the critical posture of the great maritime powers, whilst it ought to make us the more thankful for the general peace and security enjoyed by the United States, reminds us at the same time of the circumspection with which it becomes us to preserve these blessings. It requires also that we should not overlook the tendency of a war, and even of preparations for a war, among the nations most concerned in active commerce with this country to abridge the means, and thereby at least enhance the price, of transporting its valuable productions to their markets. I recommend it to your serious reflections how far and in what mode it may be expedient to guard against embarrassments from these contingencies by such encouragements to our own navigation as will render our commerce and agriculture less dependent on foreign bottoms, which may fail us in the very moments most interesting to both of these great objects. Our fisheries and the transportation of our own produce offer us abundant means for guarding ourselves against this 9 evil. Your attention seems to be not less due to that particular branch of our trade which belongs to the Mediterranean. So many circumstances unite in rendering the present state of it distressful to us that you will not think any deliberations misemployed which may lead to its relief and protection. The laws you have already passed for the establishment of a judiciary system have opened the doors of justice to all descriptions of persons. You will consider in your wisdom whether improvements in that system may yet be made, and particularly whether an uniform process of execution on sentences issuing from the Federal courts be not desirable through all the States. The patronage of our commerce, of our merchants and sea men, has called for the appointment of consuls in foreign countries. It seems expedient to regulate by law the exercise of that jurisdiction and those functions which are permitted them, either by express convention or by a friendly indulgence, in the places of their residence. The consular convention, too, with His Most Christian Majesty has stipulated in certain cases the aid of the national authority to his consuls established here. Some legislative provision is requisite to carry these stipulations into full effect. The establishment of the militia, of a mint, of standards of weights and measures, of the post office and post roads are subjects which I presume you will resume of course, and which are abundantly urged by their own importance. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives: The sufficiency of the revenues you have established for the objects to which they are appropriated leaves no doubt that the residuary provisions will be commensurate to the other objects for which the public faith stands now pledged. Allow me, moreover, to hope that it will be a favorite policy with you, not merely to secure a payment of the interest of the debt funded, but as far and as fast as the growing resources of the country will permit to exonerate it of the principal itself. The appropriation you have made of the Western land explains your dispositions on this subject, and I am persuaded that the sooner that valuable fund can be made to contribute, along with the other means, to the actual reduction of the public debt the more salutary will the measure be to every public interest, as well as the more satisfactory to our constituents. Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives: in pursuing the various and weighty business of the present session I indulge the fullest persuasion that your consultation will be equally marked with wisdom and animated by the love of your country. In whatever belongs to my duty you shall have all the cooperation which an undiminished zeal for its welfare can inspire. It will be happy for us both, and our 10