Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitutions stipulates: The president “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
Will you be watching President Trump’s first State of the Union address? Why or why not?
Until the start of the speech, we invite students to share their predictions for it.
Then, starting at 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, we invite students to share their reactions as they watch and we live-moderate comments. The forum will stay open for student reactions throughout the week and beyond.
In “State of the Union Preview: Will Trump Stick to the Script?,” Michael D. Shear and Mark Landler write:
WASHINGTON — President Trump has spent his first year in office breaking every rule of presidential communication, conducting policymaking and diplomacy by Twitter and eschewing the careful, subdued tones of most presidents in favor of no-holds-barred attacks on his adversaries and allies alike.
But on Tuesday, Mr. Trump will embrace the most traditional of presidential venues — appearing before a joint session of Congress for his first State of the Union address — to deliver what aides describe as an optimistic speech that will seek to reach beyond the people who voted for him in 2016.
If he sticks to the script, the president is expected to call on Congress to spend at least $1 trillion to rebuild bridges, freeways, sewers and airports. And he will use the speech to lobby millions of viewers on behalf of his plan to make a series of conservative changes to the nation’s immigration system while also granting citizenship to as many as 1.8 million young immigrants.
But if his first year has proved anything, it is that there are no guarantees when Mr. Trump faces a television camera. Cabinet meetings have veered into presidential rants. Memorial speeches have turned into self-congratulatory moments. Short photo ops have become long news conferences.
“Teleprompter Trump sounds like a regular president,” said Michael Waldman, who was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999 and wrote four State of the Union speeches. “Off-the-Teleprompter Trump sounds like a fill-in radio talk show host.”
When Mr. Trump delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress last February — not technically a State of the Union speech — he offered a mostly optimistic vision of America, speaking soberly and almost verbatim from a prepared text.
But former speechwriters said traditional State of the Union speeches were a poor fit for Mr. Trump because they tended to be long lists of policy proposals, cobbled together over months in a process that involves agency employees across the federal government. During his first year, the president showed only a sporadic interest in the nuts and bolts of policymaking.
Jonathan Horn, who was a speechwriter for President George W. Bush, said Mr. Trump’s Twitter habit could undermine the political benefits of the speech. Hovering over the address is an accelerating Russia investigation and a congressional stalemate over spending.
“The next day there could be a tweet, and then the work on a very, very long speech is overshadowed by 280 characters,” said Mr. Horn, who was part of a team that drafted Mr. Bush’s 2008 State of the Union address.
Students: Read the entire article, then post a comment.
Predictions before the State of the Union address:
— What predictions can you make about this address? What will the president say? What topics will he take on? What tone do you expect him to take? Why?
— The authors of this article write that “if his first year has proved anything, it is that there are no guarantees when Mr. Trump faces a television camera.” Do you think Mr. Trump will “stick to the script?” Will he tweet after his speech?
— What do you wish President Trump would talk about in his address? Are those topics different than the ones you expect him to take on? If so, why?
Reactions during and after the address:
— What, to you, were the most memorable moments or lines?
— What did you think of the speech over all? Why?
— What reactions to the address — whether from political commentators, members of Congress, social media or your friends and family — did you find most interesting? Why?
_________
Teachers:
— Another way to help your students join the conversation Tuesday night is to be a part of the 22x20 campaign by using the hashtag #22×20 while watching this speech. The campaign — so named because there will be 22 million new voters by the year 2020 — is focused on activating and facilitating youth voice and leadership in the democratic process by empowering youths with nonpartisan media literacy skills to consume, critique and respond to political messages.
— Or, use the evergreen ideas in our lesson plan Assessing the Address: State of the Union Lesson Ideas.
— For more context, students might watch this Times video of President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address, from January 2016, and highlights of Mr. Trump’s address to Congress in February 2017. And you can follow along via this page for all Times coverage on the State of the Union address.
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.