1997 State of the Union Address
The 1997 State of the Union Address was given by the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, on Tuesday, February 4, 1997, at 9 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 105th United States Congress. It was Clinton's fourth State of the Union Address and his fifth speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, accompanied by Al Gore, the Vice President of the United States, in his capacity as President of the Senate.
Full video of the speech as published by the White House | |
| Date | February 4, 1997 |
|---|---|
| Time | 9:00 p.m. EST |
| Duration | 1 hour, 4 minutes |
| Venue | House Chamber, United States Capitol |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′23″N 77°00′32″W |
| Type | State of the Union Address |
| Participants | Bill Clinton |
President Clinton discussed numerous topics in the address, including the environment, the International Space Station, welfare, crime and relations with NATO and China. The president also focused on a "detailed plan to balance the budget by 2002".
The Republican Party response was delivered by Oklahoma congressman J. C. Watts in front of high school students sponsored by the Close Up Foundation.[1]
Dan Glickman, the Secretary of Agriculture, served as the designated survivor.[2]
The speech was broadcast live on television and radio and lasted 1:04:21 and consisted of 6,774 words.[3]
This was the first State of the Union Address carried live on the Internet.[4]
References
- Richard E. Sincere, Jr. (February 1997). "O.J., J.C., and Bill: Reflections on the State of the Union". Metro Herald. Archived from the original on 2002-07-31. Retrieved 2007-01-23.
Watts told his audience -- about 100 high school students from the CloseUp Foundation watched in person, while a smaller number watched on television at home -- that he is "old enough to remember the Jim Crow" laws that affected him and his family while he grew up in a black neighborhood in small-town Oklahoma.
- Washington Post, "Agriculture's Glickman Draws Doomsday Duty for Address." Page A13. Feb 4, 1997
- "Length of State of the Union Addresses in Minutes". presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
- Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives. "Office of the Clerk". Archived from the original on 2009-05-12. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1997 State of the Union Address. |
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Transcript of the 1997 State of the Union address
- Full video and audio, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia.
- 1997 State of the Union Address (video) at C-SPAN
- 1997 State of the Union Response (video) at C-SPAN
| Preceded by 1996 State of the Union Address |
State of the Union addresses 1997 |
Succeeded by 1998 State of the Union Address |
