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
Admission to the Union of the established state as well as the Congress. It was anticipated that Kentucky (which was a part of Virginia), Franklin (which was a part of North Carolina, and later became part of the Southwest Territory), Vermont (to which New York asserted a disputed claim), and Maine (which was a part of Massachusetts), would become states. As a result of this compromise, new breakaway states are permitted to join the Union, but only with the proper consents. Shortly after the new Constitution went into effect Congress admitted Vermont and Kentucky on equal terms with the existing 13 states, and thereafter