The 1790 State of the Union Address was given by President George Washington in New York City. It was the first annual address given by a president in the Senate Chamber of Federal Hall. Excerpt: "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."

Reproduction of the original: State of the Union Addresses by Rutherford B. Hayes

The following book collates State of the Union Addresses delivered by the 40th U.S. president, Ronald Reagan, who was the first to begin the tradition. The State of the Union Address is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current condition of the nation. It generally includes reports on the nation's budget, economy, news, agenda, achievements and the president's priorities and legislative proposals.

Reproduction of the original: State of the Union Addresses by Benjamin Harrison

The State of the Union (SOTU) address is a communication between the Pres. and Congress in which the chief executive reports on the current conditions of the U.S. and provides policy proposals for the upcoming legislative year. Contents of this report: (1) Overview; (2) Historical Perspective; (3) Tradition and Ceremony; (4) Common Elements: The Sequence of Arguments; Recurring Themes: Past and the Future; Bipartisanship; (5) Policy Impact: Progression of Pres. Term: First Year Addresses; Midterm Addresses; Election Year Addresses; Second Term Addresses; Legislative Success and Policy Proposals; (6) Opposition Response; (7) Concluding Thoughts. Illustrations. This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication.

The 1877 State of the Union Address was written by the 19th president, Rutherford B. Hayes. Excerpt: "There has been a general reestablishment of order and of the orderly administration of justice. Instances of remaining lawlessness have become of rare occurrence; political turmoil and turbulence have disappeared; useful industries have been resumed; public credit in the Southern States has been greatly strengthened, and the encouraging benefits of a revival of commerce between the sections of the country lately embroiled in civil war are fully enjoyed."

The 1852 State of the Union Address was given by the 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore. It was spoken to the 32nd United States Congress by a clerk, not the president. Excerpt: "Besides affording to our own citizens a degree of prosperity of which on so large a scale I know of no other instance, our country is annually affording a refuge and a home to multitudes, altogether without example, from the Old World. We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the happy Constitution and Government which were bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit in all their integrity to our children."

Reproduction of the original: State of the Union Addresses by Chester A. Arthur

The 1866 State of the Union Address was given by Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States. It was not a spoken address, but a written one. The Reconstruction Era had begun, and Johnson wanted a policy that pardoned the leaders of the Confederate States of America. Excerpt: "In all of the States civil authority has superseded the coercion of arms, and the people, by their voluntary action, are maintaining their governments in full activity and complete operation." In the middle, he said, "In our efforts to preserve "the unity of government which constitutes as one people" by restoring the States to the condition which they held prior to the rebellion, we should be cautious, lest, having rescued our nation from perils of threatened disintegration, we resort to consolidation, and in the end absolute despotism, as a remedy for the recurrence of similar troubles."

Reproduction of the original.