JFK GIVES HIS FIRST STATE OF THE UNION MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 30, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave his first State of the Union* address to the Congress of the United States.
The President said...
"I speak today in an hour of...peril and...opportunity. The present state of the economy is disturbing (and) each day we draw nearer the hour of maximum danger as weapons spread and hostile forces grow stronger."
Mr. Kennedy concluded...
"In the words of a great President...closing his final State of the Union message sixteen years ago...'We pray that we may be worthy of the unlimited opportunities that God has given us.'"**
*State of the Union is required by Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution which specifies that the POTUS "shall from time to time give Congress information on the State of the Union."
From George Washington to William Howard Taft, presidents submitted their State of the Unions in written form. Woodrow Wilson was the first to deliver his orally at the Capitol.
**Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his 1st SOTU address on January 3 1934.
SOURCE
"Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union, January 30, 1961," The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/
