According to the US Constitution:
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.
As it turns out, "from time to time" has been interpreted from the beginning as meaning yearly, and in fact, the speech was referred to as the "Annual Message" until FDR. Since the required content of the speech is open to interpretation, these national addresses have been used for everything from simple informational sessions to campaigning, and from introduction of policy to national apologies, though in recent history it is mostly used to promote the priorities of the President for the upcoming year.
Current Practices
The State of the Union Address has become a prime time event used to rally the President's own political party, reach out to the opposition, and speak directly to the public. Since 1966, an opposition response follows the State of the Union, and is typically given by leaders of the political party opposite the President.
On an agreed on date and time (in January or February), both the Senate and the House of Representatives convene for a joint session "for receiving such communication as the President of the United States shall be pleased to make to them." At this time, the Senators cross the Capitol building to the House Chamber. The Speaker of the House and the Vice President (acting as President of the Senate) occupy seats on the dais. A committee chosen from each house is appointed to escort the President to the chamber where he is presented by the Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives. The Speaker introduces the President who then delivers his address to the nation.
In attendance are members and former members of the House and Senate, the Presidential Cabinet (excluding one secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff), the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and the Diplomatic Corp. Since Reagan's term, several Presidential guests are also present at the ceremony, and are individually recognized during the speech. Additional gallery seating is by ticket and coordinated by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House.
Interesting Facts
Below is a listing of all of the State of the Union Addresses. To signify which Addresses have been noded, I have placed the exact date of the speech next to the link rather than just the year.
As might be expected, noding over 200 years of annual speeches can be time consuming, so please be patient.
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson rejected the regal and ceremonial aspect of the State of the Union Address. He decided on a more "simple form of government" and submitted his address to the Congress by letter. This practice continued for over a century until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson once again gave his address as a speech.
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland (second term, non-consecutive)
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Wilson revived the practice of delivering the State of the Union in person by speech to Congress, and did so from 1913 to 1918.
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
In 1923, Coolidge is the first President to have his State of the Union broadcast on the radio.
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The phrase "State of the Union Address" becomes the official description of the speech during Roosevelt's terms, though historians cannot agree in which year.
Harry S. Truman
In 1947, Truman is the first President to have his State of the Union broadcast on television.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Johnson has the State of the Union moved from afternoon to evening so that a wider television audience would see it.
Richard M. Nixon
Gerald R. Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
In 2002, Bush is the first President to have his State of the Union available live via the Internet.
Barack Obama
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