Response to the State of the Union address

In American politics, the response to the State of the Union address is a rebuttal speech, usually short, given by a representative (or representatives) of an opposition party after the president's State of the Union address.

The tradition of giving a response to the State of the Union started in 1966, when Republican Senator Everett Dirksen from Illinois and Representative Gerald Ford from Michigan gave a response on TV to Democratic President Lyndon Johnson's State of the Union address. The format of the response has varied, with some responses being a prerecorded 45-minute TV program to a show in 1972 where a group of congressmen answered questions from callers. Starting in the late 1980s, it has usually been a speech on TV given soon after the State of the Union address.

Four presidents have given both a State of the Union address and a response: Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden.

References

Category:State of the Union Address