2018+State+of+the+Union

=State of the Union 2018=

Article II of the Constitution details the set up of the Executive Branch built around a President and a Vice-President. In Section 3 about Presidential Duties it reads,


 * "He 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 and expedient."**

Presidents may do this either in person, or in writing, but in recent years have chosen to do it in person, before a joint session of Congress, and on television so as to reach the widest audience possible. This is the biggest political event of every year, outside of election day- and is covered and commentated on like the Super Bowl. It is the president's big opportunity to take credit for successes from the past year, and to set a vision for the coming year, and to challenge Congress to take up specific issues. This will be President Trump's First...

From Monday up until his Speech begins at 9pm Tuesday you can post about what you hope he speaks to and what YOU think about the State of the Union today. Tuesday night, you'll have a viewing guide handout and be invited to watch at least 30 minutes of the speech to earn additional extra-credit. You can then come back to this discussion and follow up with your comments and questions about how he did, what you agreed with and what you didn't- and perhaps some issue ideas that you might focus on for our upcoming Mock Congress.

Because we are busy with our Mock Constitutional Convention- this discussion will be our forum for Discussing the Speech.

Here are some links to background about State of the Union Speeches. Following the speech, the video will be embedded and the text of the speech will be linked.

White House.gov Official Postings on the State of the Union, including video of full speech, profiles of First Lady's guests, key lines... full text

President Trump's Guests during the State of the Union (PD Article)

State of the Union Speech, How to Watch (Vox)

[|History of the State of the Union Address- U.S. House of Representatives]

History of the State of the Union Address- U.S. Senate

A Brief History of the State of the Union- (Mental Floss)