State of the Union Trivia

1. In the annual State of the Union Address to Congress, the president describes...

    A suggested budget and an annual economic report.

    The details of a legislative program reflecting the president's values.

    Ideas about how to solve key problems facing the country.

    Political favors he or she plans to hand out to win support.

2. Presidential proposals and policies are well received by Congress when the....

    Proposals involve controversial issues.

    President fails to understand the mood of the people.

    President can generate much public support.

    Public holds the president in low regard.

3. Sometimes presidents demonstrate leadership by introducing bold new ideas, such as when President Truman announced measures to...

    End discrimination against African Americans.

    Open diplomatic relations with China.

    Intervene in a civil war in Bosnia.

    Cut federal taxes.

4. One way Congress limits the power of a president is by...

    Misinterpreting instructions.

    Ruling the president's programs unconstitutional.

    Vetoing a president's power to carry out federal programs.

    Passing legislation over a president's veto.

5. What state did George Washington welcome into the union during his first annual message in 1790?

    Florida

    Kentucky

    Tennessee

    North Carolina

6. Today, the president's annual message is called the "State of the Union" address. Which president is responsible for this change?

    Franklin Roosevelt

    Warren Harding

    Theodore Roosevelt

    Woodrow Wilson

7. Franklin Roosevelt outlined four freedoms in his State of the Union message in 1941. The first three freedoms were freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom from want. What was the fourth freedom?

    Freedom of the press

    Freedom from war

    Freedom from pestilence

    Freedom from fear

8. Which president was the first to broadcast his annual message to Congress on the radio?

    Herbert Hoover

    Calvin Coolidge

    Warren Harding

    Franklin Roosevelt

9. What was significant about the State of the Union message in 1947?

    First to include a press conference.

    First to be broadcast on television.

    First to be delivered in person.

    First to include guests in the gallery.

10. Which president was the first to receive a reply to his annual message from Congress?

    George Washington

    Thomas Jefferson

    Abraham Lincoln

    Dwight Eisenhower

11. More annual messages or State of the Union addresses have been given in which month?

    January

    February

    November

    December

12. Whose State of the Union address was the shortest?

    John F. Kennedy

    Harry Truman

    Chester Arthur

    George Washington

13. Who initiated the practice of inviting distinguished citizens to sit as guests of the president in the House of Representatives Gallery?

    Jimmy Carter

    Gerald Ford

    George Bush

    Ronald Reagan