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 report. Since Franklin Roosevelt, the State of the Union is given typically each January before a joint session of the United States Congress and is held in the House of Representatives chamber of the United States Capitol. Newly inaugurated presidents generally deliver an address to Congress in February of the first year of their term, but this speech is not officially considered to be a "State of the Union". What began as a communication between president and Congress has become in effect a communication between the president and the people of the United States. Since the advent of radio, and