By the numbers: Obama's final State of the Union
InsideGov breaks down President Obama's final State of the Union address.
Posted — UpdatedHe dedicated a little over six minutes to campaign finance reform and the intricacies and responsibilities of citizenship.
In many ways, this speech was vintage Obama — a rousing, uplifting soliloquy that focused on accomplishments but called out applause-ready suggestions, like affordable college tuition and hiring more teachers.
He seemed comfortable returning to his motivator-in-chief role, delivering his comments in a particularly self-assured tone and with confident, relaxed body language.
But boos were audible once during the address. When Obama dove into national security and said talk of U.S. enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker was “political hot air,” he got a bit of pushback from the joint session of Congress.
A chorus of boos rivaled the applause. But in the next breath, he scored bipartisan cheers when he described the U.S. as the “most powerful nation on Earth. Period.”
Overall, Obama received a little more than 13 minutes’ worth of clapping throughout the duration of his near hour-long address. Nearly a fourth of Obama’s time behind the lectern garnered applause.
Obama spoke for a total of 58 minutes and 49 seconds on Tuesday night. That’s a few minutes shy of what he has averaged in his previous State of the Union speeches.
And even though Obama is often lauded for his oratory prowess, former President Bill Clinton actually averaged the longest State of the Union addresses since the 1960s.
As Obama indicated at the outset of his speech, this address didn’t provide any new policy proposals. Instead, Obama was in full-on legacy mode, starting a victory lap that will likely characterize his last year in office.
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.