Technological “State of the Union” history was made this week by President Obama on Whitehouse.gov.
Here’s a brief history of the State of the Union address. In 1790, George Washington gave the first State of the Union address. It was in person, and it was called “The First Annual Message to Congress,” with John Adams following suit. The speech was only shared with the public through the newspaper. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson actually discontinued the practice of delivering the address in person, regarding it as “too kingly.” Instead, it was written down and sent to Congress, read by a clerk. In 1923, our nation got to hear the annual message via the radio for the first time by Calvin Coolidge.
Image Source Page: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4886813
In 1947, Harry Truman’s State of the Union address (FDR was the first to coin the term in 1935) was the first to be broadcast on television.
Image Source Page: http://www.vrml.k12.la.us/french/ahs/yearfestivals/cattlefestivaln/cattlfestival.htm
In 2002, George W. Bush’s State of the Union’s address made history by being the first to broadcast on the Internet. This week, President Obama’s White House website, www.whitehouse.gov, not only simulcast his speech, they added charts, graphs and photos to help enhance and support his ideas and arguments while he was making them. He used the latest online technologies of steaming video, images, and charts relevant to his comments.
Image Source - http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2011
Regardless of your political viewpoints, this demonstrated a new and innovative way to engage and educate the audience and it made State of the Union technological history. It truly helped them "tell the story."
Source: http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/souhistory.htm
