Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Why is the State of the Union always ‘strong’?
Why is the State of the Union always ‘strong’?
Jan 16, 2026 7:44 PM

I have a can’t miss prediction: tonight, when President Trump gives his first State of the Union address, he will describe the state of the union as “strong.” (I’ve made this prediction on this blog the past several years, so I’m hoping for a quadfecta of prescience tonight.)

Admittedly, predicting that the state of our union will be described as “strong” is about as safe a bet as you can make when es to politics. Over the last hundred years presidents have described the State of the Union (SOTU) in various ways — Good (Truman), Sound (Carter), Not Good (Ford). But it was Ronald Reagan who started the “strong” trend in 1983 by referring to the SOTU as “Strong, but the economy is troubled.” Since 1983, “strong” has been used to refer to the SOTU in 29 addresses.

Here is howthe state of the Union has been described over the past hundred years:

2016: Strong (Obama)

2015: Strong (Obama)

2014: Strong (Obama)

2013: Stronger (Obama)

2012: Strong (Obama)

2011: Strong (Obama)

2010: Strong (Obama)

2009: Stronger than before (Obama)

2008: Strong (Bush)

2007: Strong (Bush)

2006: Strong (Bush)

2005: Confident and Strong (Bush)

2004: Confident and Strong (Bush)

2003: Strong (Bush)

2002: Never been stronger (Bush)

2001: Strong (Bush)

2000: Strongest it has ever been (Clinton)

1999: Strong (Clinton)

1998: Strong (Clinton)

1997: Strong (Clinton)

1996: Strong (Clinton)

1995: Stronger than it was two years ago (Clinton)

1994: Growing stronger but it must be stronger still (Clinton)

1991-92: [Status of the SOTU not specified] (Bush I)

1990: Sound and strong (Bush I)

1988: Strong, prosperous, at peace, and free (Reagan)

1987: [No status of the SOTU specified] (Reagan)

1986: Stronger than a year ago and growing stronger each day (Reagan)

1985: Stronger, freer, and more secure than before (Reagan)

1984: Much improved (Reagan)

1983: Strong, but the economy is troubled (Reagan)

1982: [No status of the SOTU specified] (Reagan)

1981: Sound (Carter)

1980: Depends on the state of the world(Carter)

1979: Sound (Carter)

1978: Sound (Carter)

1977: Good (Ford)

1976: Better–in many ways a lot better–but still not good enough (Ford)

1975: Not Good (Ford)

1974: At peace with every nation of the world (Nixon)

1973: Sound, and full of promise (Nixon)

1969-1972: [No status of the SOTU specified] (Johnson, Nixon)

1968: Challenged (Johnson)

1966-67: [No status of the SOTU specified] (Johnson)

1965: Depends, in large measure, upon the state of the world (Johnson)

1950-1964: [No status of the SOTU specified] (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson)

1949: Good (Truman)

1948: Reflects the changing nature of the modern world (Truman)

1928-47: [No status of the SOTU specified] (Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Truman)

1927: In general is good (Coolidge)

1926: One of general peace and prosperity (Coolidge)

1925: One of progress and prosperity (Coolidge)

1913-24: [No status of the SOTU specified] (Wilson, Harding, Coolidge)

Note: Speeches given in 1989, 1993, 2001, 2009, and 2017 were not technically “State of the Union” addresses, which start a year after presidents have been in office.

Previous Article：What the ‘Czech Trump’ means for Church property and immigration Next Article：What is moral hazard?
Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Crisis and Constitution: Hitler’s Rise to Power
In March 1933, through various political maneuvers, Adolf Hitler successfully suppressed Communist, Socialist, and Catholic opposition to a proposed “Enabling Act,” which allowed him to introduce legislation without first going through parliament, thus by-passing constitutional review. The act would give the German executive branch unprecedented power. “Hitler’s rise to power is a sobering story of how a crisis and calls for quick solutions can tempt citizens and leaders to subvert the rule of law and ignore a country’s constitutional safeguards,”...
Makers, Takers, and Representation without Taxation
The American minister Jonathan Mayhew (October 8, 1720 – July 9, 1766) is credited with coining the phrase “No taxation without representation.”My review of Nicholas Eberstadt’s A Nation of Takers: America’s Entitlement Epidemic appears in the current issue of The City(currently available in print). Eberstadt makes some important points about the sustainability of our society given current trends in our national polity. The most salient feature, contends Eberstadt, is that “the United States is at the verge of a symbolic...
Departing in Peace: Economics and Liturgical Living
In the most recent issue of Theosis (1.6), Fr. Thomas Loya, a Byzantine Catholic priest, iconographer, and columnist, has an interesting contribution on the ing feast of the Presentation of Christ at the Temple (also known as Candlemas or the “Meeting of the Lord”). For many, February 2nd is simply the most bizarre and meaningless American holiday: Groundhog Day. However, for more traditional Christians, this is a major Christian feast day: memoration of the forty day presentation of Christ at...
Bums, Anarchy, and Homicidal Fictions
“I’ll just walk the earth.” It may not be very pious (although there is a very memorable apocryphal quote from Ezekiel 25:17), but Pulp Fiction is perhaps my favorite movie. There’s a scene where Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson), two hit men, are in a diner discussing their future. Jules contends that he and Vincent have just experienced a miracle, and he plans to change his life accordingly. After finishing their current job, Jules says, “I’ll just...
Rev. Robert Sirico Participates in Debate on Government’s Role in Helping Poor
On Monday, January 28, the Rev. Robert Sirico participated in a debate, hosted by the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought, on the role of government in helping the poor. Fr. Sirico debated Michael Sean Winters, a writer with the National Catholic Reporter, on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder. The priest said during the debate that with the “overarching ethical orientation” a capitalist economy needs, it can provide for the needs of the poor. No solution, he...
Canons and Guns: An Eastern Orthodox Response to a HuffPo Writer
Several of my friends on Facebook pages posted a link to David Dunn’s Huffington Post essay on gun control (An Eastern Orthodox Case for Banning Assault Weapons). As Dylan Pahman posted earlier today, Dunn, an Eastern Orthodox Christian, is to mended for bringing the tradition of the Orthodox Church into conversation with contemporary issues such as gun control. As a technical matter, to say nothing for the credibility of his argument, it would be helpful if he understood the weapons...
Subsidiarity ‘From Above’ and ‘From Below’
I have wrapped up a brief series on the principle of subsidiarity over at the blog of the journal Political Theology with a post today, “Subsidiarity ‘From Below.'” You can check out the previous post, “Subsidiarity ‘From Above,'” as well as my introductory primer on the topic as well. For those who might be interested in reading some more, you can also download some related papers: “State, Church, and the Reformational Roots of Subsidiarity” and “A Society of Mutual Aid:...
Dunn, Oikonomia, and Assault Weapons: Misappropriating a Principle?
Update (1/31/2013): David Dunn Responds to my post, Fr. Gregory’s post, and others: here. Original post: David J. Dunn yesterday wrote an interesting piece arguing for a ban on assault weapons from an Orthodox Christian perspective (here). First of all, I am happy to see any timely Orthodox engagement with contemporary social issues and applaud the effort. Furthermore, I respect his humility, as his bio statement reads: “his views reflect the diversity of Orthodox opinion on this issue, not any...
Obama’s Most Fowl Double Standard
In the 1880s America’s most flighty fad was fowl-bedecked fashion. “Trendy bonnets were piled high with feathers, birds, fruit, flowers, furs, even mice and small reptiles,” writes Jennifer Price, “Birds were by far the most popular accessory: Women sported egret plumes, owl heads, sparrow wings, and whole hummingbirds; a single hat could feature all that, plus four or five warblers.” The result was the killing of millions of birds, including many exotic and rare species. Reporting on the winter hat...
Business Entrepreneur Focuses on Catholic Education
Frank Hanna III, CEO of Hanna Capital, LLC, has made Catholic education a special focus. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Hanna spoke of the challenges, changes and reasons to champion religious education: The more I looked into the issues of society, the more I became convinced that a lot of our societal failings happen much sooner; so much of the foundation of our failure was happening in our educational system. And that’s what actually got me thinking...
Related Classification
RELIGION & LIBERTY
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
About
Terms and Conditions Privacy policy Cookie Settings Contact Us
Services
Login register
mreligion RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE RELIGION & LIBERTY
Links
zpostcode Recruit weather mreligion Yellowpages sport constellation shopping name game directory literature Word tour furnish Lottery tftnews lyrics News digital car dir Edu Finance
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved