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 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