[{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_veuEhhb1658wti0_ZAig66JOyixENU-N9zhjLQSLfOQ.css?delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=heritage_theme\u0026include=eJwrTi1LzdNPzkksLq7Uy8tPSQUAPMsGtA"}]},{"command":"invoke","selector":null,"method":"openEssay","args":["10000093","\n\n\u003Carticle about=\u0022\/constitution\/articles\/2\/essays\/94\/state-of-the-union\u0022 class=\u0022node node--type-constitution-essay node--promoted node--view-mode-embedded clearfix\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch1 class=\u0022title\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EState of the Union\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003C\/h1\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-location\u0022\u003E\n      Article II, Section 3\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-context\u0022\u003E\n      \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E[The President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union....\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-body\u0022\u003E\n    \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs Chief Justice John Marshall pointed out in \u003Cem\u003EMarbury v. Madison\u003C\/em\u003E (1803), much of the power of the executive is, in its nature, discretionary. Not so with the President\u2019s obligation to provide Congress with a report on the state of the Union. In his \u003Cem\u003ECommentaries on the Constitution\u0026nbsp;of the United States \u003C\/em\u003E(1833), Justice Joseph Story observed that because the President has more information of the complex workings of the government, \u201c[t]here is great wisdom, therefore, in not merely allowing, but in requiring, the president to lay before congress all facts and information, which may assist their deliberations; and in enabling him at once to point out the evil, and to suggest the remedy.\u201d Only the president\u2014who posseses unique knowledge of military operations, foreign affairs, and the day-to-day execution of the laws and is the only national representative of the whole people\u2014can give a comprehensive assessment of the overall state of the nation and its relations with the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Framers fastened this duty upon the president as a means of transparency and accountability. Justice Story noted, \u201cHe is thus justly made responsible, not merely for a due administration of the existing systems, but for due diligence and examination into the means of improving them.\u201d Other constitutionally defined communications, such as the president\u2019s veto message to Congress, his recommendation of measures to Congress, and the Senate\u2019s advice and consent of presidential nominations, represent what James Madison called the \u201cpartial agency\u201d (\u003Cem\u003EThe Federalist\u003C\/em\u003E No. 47) of one department in the workings of another department. But like the Presidential Oath of Office Clause (Article II, Section 1, Clause 8), the State of the Union Clause requires the president to respect the legislative role of Congress while retaining executive discretion in the fulfillment of his role in enforcing the laws.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EUnlike the British model of a \u201cspeech from the throne\u201d to Parliament, which represents the sovereignty of the \u201cking in parliament\u201d of the British constitution, the American version, at least as written in the Constitution, presumes the vitality of the separation of powers and the ultimate accountability of each branch of government to the sovereign people. The modern practice of the State of the Union address, however, seems to borrow elements from the British form of the \u201cspeech from the throne.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe origins of the clause are in the early state constitutions, as well as Alexander Hamilton\u2019s unadopted draft language:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cblockquote\u003EThe President at the beginning of every meeting of the Legislature as soon as they shall be ready to proceed to business, shall convene them together at the place where the Senate shall sit, and shall communicate to them all such matters as may be necessary for their information, or as may require their consideration.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorge Washington gave the first \u201cAnnual Message\u201d in the Senate chamber in January 1790, at the beginning of the second session of the First Congress. Subsequent messages came shortly after the convening of Congress, fulfilling the intended purpose of the Framers that the occasion was not for pomp but for practical content. Congress, for its part, does not need to respond, although it did so early in the republic through a formal resolution of each House and, in more recent times, by a reply by a member of the opposition party.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHistorically, annual messages mostly focused on foreign relations and introduced the reports and recommendations of department heads. It was not until the twentieth century, with the ease of communications and access to information, as well as the president\u2019s increased public presence and role as political party leader, that the State of the Union became less reporting and assessment and more policy advocacy and political persuasion. Although it is not a requirement, there was an expectation that the president would deliver the message orally (as was done by Washington and John Adams). Thomas Jefferson thought the practice too royal and refused to do so personally; he had clerks read it to Congress. Woodrow Wilson revived the oral tradition in 1913, a practice that every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has followed. With the advent of radio (first used by Calvin Coolidge in 1923) and television (first used by Harry S. Truman in 1947), the State of the Union address has become an important occasion for speaking directly to the American people.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBeginning with Lyndon Johnson, the presidents have delivered their addresses in the evening to obtain a wider television audience. Showmanship, partisanship, and pomp have increased in recent decades, raising the issue of whether it is appropriate for members of the Supreme Court to attend. Despite the intentions of the Framers, the State of the Union has evolved to something like the \u201cspeech from the throne\u201d but with a signal difference. In England, the leader of governing party in Parliament writes the speech for the monarch, whereas in the United States, the president is the de facto national leader (regardless of party control by the legislature), and the State of the Union address now demonstrates how powerful an initiator of the legislative process the president has become.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--media\u0022\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--photo\u0022 style=\u0022background-image: url(\/sites\/default\/files\/Matthew_Spalding.jpg)\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--info\u0022\u003E\n              \u003Ch4 class=\u0022con-essay-author--name\u0022\u003E\n                      Matthew Spalding\n                  \u003C\/h4\u003E\n                  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--job\u0022\u003E\n         Associate Vice President and Dean of Educational Programs, Hillsdale College\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-tabs\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cul data-tabs class=\u0022tabs\u0022\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000093-taba\u0022\u003EFurther Reading\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000093-tabb\u0022\u003ECase Law\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000093-tabc\u0022\u003ERelated Essays\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n      \u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv data-tabs-content\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000093-taba\u0022\u003E\n          \n      \u003Cdiv\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEdward Corwin, The President: Office and Powers, 1787\u20131984 (5th ed., rev\u0027d 1984)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EVasan Kesavan \u0026amp; J. Gregory Sidak, \u003Ci\u003EThe Legislator-in-Chief\u003C\/i\u003E, 44 Wm. \u0026amp; Mary L. Rev. 1 (2002)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EColleen J. Shogan \u0026amp; Thomas H. Neale, \u201cThe President\u2019s State of the Union Address: Tradition, Function, and Policy Implications,\u201d Congressional Research Service 7-5700, December 17, 2012\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJOSEPH STORY, COMMENTARIES ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES (Constitutional Bicentennial Edition, Carolina Academic Press, Durham, N.C. 1987) (with introduction by Ronald D. Rotunda \u0026amp; John E. Nowak)\u003Cbr\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp class=\u0022MsoNormal\u0022 style=\u0022margin-left:12.0pt;text-align:justify;line-height:\n111%\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan style=\u0022font-size:9.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;line-height:111%;\nfont-family:\u0026quot;Times New Roman\u0026quot;,serif;mso-fareast-font-family:\u0026quot;Times New Roman\u0026quot;;\nmso-bidi-font-family:Arial\u0022\u003E\u003Co:p\u003E\u003C\/o:p\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n          \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000093-tabb\u0022\u003E\n          \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000093-tabc\u0022\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000031\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EPocket Veto\u003C\/a\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000090\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EAppointments Clause\u003C\/a\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000094\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003ERecommendations Clause\u003C\/a\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000097\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003ETake Care Clause\u003C\/a\u003E\n                  \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n\u003C\/article\u003E\n"]}]