The State of the Union Is . . . Memorable Addresses of the Last Fifty Years

President Donald J. Trump is scheduled to deliver his second State of the Union address on February 5, 2019. His inaugural address, speech to a joint session of Congress, first State of the Union address, and recent Oval Office address were all wildly inconsistent and garnered mixed reviews. In this book, a group of speech and communication experts from around the country analyze the most memorable State of the Union addresses of the last half-century. From President Lyndon Johnson's declaration of a war on poverty during his 1964 address through Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's utterance of the phrase "not true" during President Barack Obama's 2010 speech, historical moments and political fireworks are frequently produced before a television audience of millions. Familiar phrases such as "the era of big government is over" and "axis of evil" can be traced to recent State of the Union addresses. Each chapter in the book concludes with sage advice for President Trump's upcoming speech, which could be integral to fending off impeachment from a newly elected Democratic House of Representatives and winning re-election in 2020. With so much at stake, President Trump and his team of speechwriters should closely study the work of his predecessors to produce the best final product. Whether or not this occurs remains quite unclear at this time.