AVOID THE LAUNDRY LIST — When President Joe Biden takes the podium for his State of the Union address tonight, he’ll talk about making sure the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share, call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law and seek to lay out a stark contrast with a second potential Trump administration. He’ll also be attempting to ease concerns about his age and give his flagging poll numbers a boost. It won’t be easy. Biden will be fighting against history — only rarely have State of the Union speeches made an impact on the trajectory of a presidency or a reelection campaign. Instead, in recent decades, presidents have tended to deliver speeches that sound like glorified laundry lists of ideas. “It’s a reminder of the limits of rhetoric,” said Terry Szuplat, a former Obama speechwriter who worked on many State of the Unions during his time in the White House. Szuplat said that many of the greatest moments in American presidential speechmaking have come from a president responding to a moment of triumph or tragedy — such as Ronald Reagan’s address in Berlin in 1987 or John F. Kennedy’s 1962 speech on the space race — rather than formal SOTU addresses. The challenge with a State of the Union, Szuplat said, is that mobs of federal bureaucrats and armchair advisors try to force their pet policy and messaging ideas into the speech, making it difficult for the president to deliver a cohesive message. Some State of the Union speeches have still managed to break through. The trick? Embrace big, weighty ideas. Use evocative, memorable language worthy of the historic moment. Most of all, avoid the laundry list. “Great presidents have used State of the Union addresses as templates or a road map for the future of their presidency,” said presidential historian Yanek Mieczkowski of the University of Central Florida. Here are five speeches that hit that mark: 1823 — President James Monroe: The Monroe Doctrine In his 1823 State of the Union Speech President James Monroe outlined the Monroe Doctrine, his policy that warned European nations not to interfere in the affairs of the Western Hemisphere. While the Monroe Doctrine holds no legal standing, it’s an idea that’s been pivotal to American foreign policy for the past two centuries and the subject of countless exams for American high schoolers. The doctrine he laid out in 1823 has also been central to his legacy since. 1848 — President James K. Polk: Kicking off the gold rush James K. Polk’s 1848 State of the Union speech marked the beginning of a new era in American life. He told Congress — and an interested public — that there was gold to be had in California. “The abundance of gold in [California] are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief,” Polk said, thereby kicking off the California gold rush. While there had been rumors of gold in the West trickling back East for months, it wasn’t until Polk confirmed the rumors in his speech that more Americans decided to head for the mines. In the wake of the speech, the non-native population of California exploded, making conditions ripe for California to apply for statehood, which later led to controversy in Congress and the Compromise of 1850. 1862 — President Abraham Lincoln: ‘Last best hope’ In the midst of a second year of Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 State of the Union address sought to defend his Emancipation Proclamation and steady a nervous Union after the bloodshed at Antietam. But while the speech is notable for its un-Lincoln-like length and a long discourse on a compensated emancipation plan, where it shines most is Lincoln’s language connecting the cause of freedom with the direction of the nation. In closing, Lincoln wrote the memorable words: “We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.” 1941 — President Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Four Freedoms In 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third presidential term as the specter of fascism loomed. FDR had campaigned for reelection on a relatively isolationist message, but as conditions worsened in Europe he used his January 1941 State of the Union speech to make his pitch that it was pivotal for America to defend democracy abroad. At the core of his speech FDR placed the “four essential human freedoms” — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want and freedom from fear. 2002 — George W. Bush: ‘Axis of evil’ When George W. Bush stepped to the dais in January 2002, he was under intense pressure to calm an ailing nation and map out a strategy to address terrorism. 9/11 had occurred only a few months before, and a feeling of fear had enveloped the country. In an attempt to refocus concerns on rogue states rather than rogue terrorist groups, Bush said in his speech that North Korea, Iran and Iraq constituted an “axis of evil” that threatened “the peace of the world.” The phrase got major headlines, and the speech became one of the more memorable State of the Unions delivered in recent memory. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at pschaefer@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @p_s_schaefer.
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