1982 State of the Union Address 1982 State of the Union Address The 1982 State of the Union address was given by President Ronald Reagan to a joint session of the 97th United States Congress on Tuesday, January 26, 1982. The speech was the first State of the Union address of President Reagan's first term. The speech lasted 40 minutes and 14 seconds and contained 5154 words. The address was broadcast live on radio and television. The speech was the first to acknowledge a special guest, Lenny Skutnik. Taking the place of Supreme Court Justice Byron White was retired Justice Potter Stewart. The Democratic Party response
Member state of the European Union while others remained skeptical. It was only a decade before the first countries changed their policy and attempted to join the Union, which led to the first skepticism of enlargement. French President Charles de Gaulle feared British membership would be an American Trojan horse and vetoed its application. It was only after de Gaulle left office and a 12-hour talk by British Prime Minister Edward Heath and French President Georges Pompidou took place that the United Kingdom's third application succeeded in 1970. Applying in 1969 were the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Norway. Norway, however, declined to accept the invitation