1997 State of the Union Address of high school students sponsored by the Close Up Foundation. Dan Glickman, the Secretary of Agriculture, served as the designated survivor. The speech was broadcast live on television and radio and lasted 1:04:21 and consisted of 6,774 words. This was the first State of the Union Address carried live on the Internet. 1997 State of the Union Address The 1997 State of the Union address was given by President Bill Clinton to a joint session of the 105th United States Congress on Tuesday, February 4, 1997. The speech was the first State of the Union address of President Clinton's second
State of the Union of the pomp and ceremony behind the State of the Union address is governed by tradition rather than law, in modern times, the event is seen as one of the most important in the US political calendar. It is one of the few instances when all three branches of the US government are assembled under one roof: members of both houses of Congress constituting the legislature, the President's Cabinet constituting the executive, and the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court constituting the judiciary. In addition, the military is represented by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while foreign