Presidents Have Long Tradition of Updating Congress on National Affairs
• The Constitution requires the president to periodically give Congress information on the state of the union and recommend measures
• George Washington delivered the first address in 1790; early on addresses were written reports sent to Congress
• Woodrow Wilson resumed the tradition of an oral address to Congress in 1913
• Franklin D. Roosevelt began referring to the speech as the "State of the Union" address
• Recent presidents sometimes have not given a State of the Union speech their first year in office, giving an inaugural address instead