2016 State of the Union Address 2016 State of the Union Address The 2016 State of the Union Address was given by the 44th United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday, January 12, 2016, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives. It was addressed to the 114th United States Congress. It was the first State of the Union address with Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House of Representatives. It was the last State of the Union Address of Obama's presidency; no U.S. president since Gerald Ford has given a final State of the Union address at the end of his term. Obama's
State of the Union be read by a clerk until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson re-established the practice despite some initial controversy. However, there have been exceptions to this rule. Presidents during the latter half of the 20th century have sent written State of the Union addresses. The last President to do this was Jimmy Carter in 1981, after his defeat by Ronald Reagan and days before his term ended. For many years, the speech was referred to as "the President's Annual Message to Congress". The actual term "State of the Union" first emerged in 1934 when Franklin D. Roosevelt used the phrase, becoming its