Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump promised a long speech for his State of the Union address. On Tuesday night, he delivered.
Tuesday’s address lasted more than an hour and 40 minutes, making it the longest speech before a joint session of Congress in at least 60 years, according to the American Presidency Project, which tracks the lengths of each speech since 1964.
It beats the record Trump himself set last year, speaking for an hour and 39 minutes in what was not technically a State of the Union (Because it was the first year of Trump’s second nonconsecutive term, the speech was not classified as a State of the Union). Before that, the record was held by former President Bill Clinton for his 2000 State of the Union, which came in at an hour and 28 minutes.
The shortest speech of the past 60 years was former President Richard Nixon’s 1972 State of the Union, which lasted only 28 minutes, per the American Presidency Project.
The runtime included lengthy pauses for applause, disruptions, recognition of guests, and cheers for the Olympic gold-winning U.S. men’s hockey team.
The State of the Union gives the president an opportunity to set or reset the national agenda, and Trump’s comes at a moment when most Americans say the country is worse off than it was a year ago, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.
