On January 8, 1790, President George Washington delivered the very first Annual Message to a Joint Session of Congress (now known as the State of the Union address), in the Senate chamber of Federal Hall in New York City.
The address fulfilled Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that the President, “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
Here’s more on the original SOTU from Washington’s Mount Vernon estate:
Before tomorrow’s #SOTU address, learn about the very first #StateOfTheUnion: https://t.co/8N3NFUUvrL pic.twitter.com/09JbFdyYs3
— Mount Vernon (@MountVernon) January 29, 2018
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