“The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such meas-ures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” Article II, Sec. 3, U. S. Constitution On a cold January morning in 1790, George Washington personally delivered the first state of the union address to a joint meeting of the two bodies of Congress at Federal Hall in New York City, which was then the provisional capital of the United States. Since Washington’s first speech to Congress, U. S. Presidents have “from time to time” given Congress an assessment of the condition of the union. Presidents have used the opportunity to present their goals and agenda through broad ideas or specific details. The annual message or “State of the Union” message’s length, frequency, and method of delivery have varied from President to President and era to era. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of delivering the address in person, regard-ing it as too monarchial for the new republic. Instead, Jefferson wrote out his address and sent it to Congress to be read by a clerk. This practice continued for the next 112 years. The first presi-dent to revive Washington’s spoken precedent was Woodrow Wilson in 1913. For many years, the speech was referred to as “the President’s Annual Message to Congress.” The term “State of the Union” did not become widely used until after 1935 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt began using the phrase. With the advent of radio and television, the President’s annual message has become not only a conversation between the President and Congress but also an opportunity for the President to communicate with the American people at the same time. Calvin Coolidge’s 1923 speech was the first to be broadcast on radio. Harry S. Truman’s 1947 address was the first to be broadcast on television. Lyndon Johnson’s address in 1965 was the first delivered in the evening, and George W. B u s h ’s 2 0 0 2 a d d r e s s w a s t h e f i r s t t o b e b r o a d c a s t live on the World Wide Web. 1. The author most likely included the quotation from the U. S. Constitution in lines 1–4 in order to
(A) show how well the author knows the Constitution
(B) illustrate the wording used in the Constitution
(C) explain the reason for the State of the Union address
(D) demonstrate how different Presidents have interpreted the same provision
(E) point out the difference between a constitutional duty and a custom
2. The phrase “from time to time” in line 1 has been interpreted to mean
(A) once in a while
(B) in a timely manner
(C) annually
(D) at a convenient time
(E) when time allows
3. U. S. presidents deliver State of the Union messages primarily because they
(A) are following a tradition started by George Washington
(B) are required to do so by the U. S. Constitution
(C) need to fulfill campaign promises
(D) want to thank their supporters
(E) are trying to unify opposing factions
4. Thomas Jefferson’s State of the Union address differed from Washington’s address in that Jefferson
(A) spoke first to the Senate and then to the House of Representatives
(B) presented more frequent messages than did Washington
(C) broadcast his message on radio
(D) did not deliver his address in person
(E) had his speech printed in the newspaper
5. In the first half of the twentieth century, the State of the Union address was forever changed by
(A) the advent of radio and television
(B) Thomas Jefferson
(C) Lyndon Johnson
(D) moving the site of the speech from New Yo r k t o Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C .
(E) newspaper coverage of the speech
6. Which of the following questions is answered by the information in the passage?
(A) How many presidents have delivered spoken State of the Union messages?
(B) When is the State of the Union message delivered?
(C) How long is the average State of the Union message?
(D) Why did Woodrow Wilson revive the spoken State of the Union message?
(E) Which president delivered the first televised State of the Union message?