State Of The Union Addresses Past

A Look Back On Past State Of The Union Addresses

By
JILIAN FAMA
February 12, 2013, 5:18 PM ET
2 min read

Feb. 12, 2013 -- intro: To mark President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, we take a look back at past presidents' speeches.

Check Out More ABC Coverage of the 2013 State of the Union Here

quicklist:1title: Obama: A Rising Middle Class Should Be 'North Star'text: The president urges Congress to pass his plan for creating jobs.

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quicklist:1title: Eisenhower Reviews Prospect for Peacetext: State of the Union 1960: "We live in a divided world of uneasy equilibrium."

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quicklist:2title: Jan. 30, 1961: JFK's Full State of the Uniontext:1961: President John F. Kennedy discusses the recession and unemployment then at the top of the American agenda.

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quicklist:3title: Jan. 4, 1965: LBJ: 'Road to the Great Society'text: President Lyndon B. Johnson lays out plan to attack poverty.

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quicklist: 4title: Jan. 30, 1974: Nixon Addresses Watergate Burglarytext:State of the Union 1974: President Richard Nixon says he will cooperate with the investigation. He resisted, and finally resigned the presidency in August.

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quicklist:5title: Jan. 15, 1975: Ford's State of the Uniontext: State of the Union 1975: President Gerald Ford on unemployment and the federal deficit.

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quicklist:6title: Jan. 23, 1979: Carter's Plan to Control Inflationtext: State of the Union 1979: President Jimmy Carter calls for a national health plan.

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quicklist: 7title: Bush Reflects on the American Dreamtext: State of the Union 1990: George H.W. Bush on immigration, economy and freedom.

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quicklist: 8title: Clinton on Health Care Billtext:State of the Union 1994: Bill Clinton pushes for universal health care coverage. His effort would fail; universal coverage was not passed until the Obama administration.

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quicklist:9title: Clinton: 'The Era of Big Government Is Over'text: State of the Union 1996: President Clinton said the economy was the healthiest it had been in three decades.

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quicklist: 10title: Bush Coins the Term 'Axis of Evil'text:In the first State of the Union address after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush speaks to Congress in 2002.

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