The current imbroglio over the president’s inclusion of forged intelligence in his state of the union address got me wondering. Has this sort of thing ever happened before ? Did Harding use the SOTU to sell us a bill of goods over teapot dome, or Grant abuse the address by supplying false information to “prove” that Vice president Schuyler was innocent of wrongdoing in Crédit Mobilier ?
This being GQ, only posters with facts on hand need reply.
-Thanks.
Keep in mind that the phrase “State of the Union speech” is a relatively recent development, dating only to the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Before that the address was referred to as the “annual message to Congress”, and from 1801 to 1913, it was delivered in writing, not in person.
Also, it would be rather unusual for a president to comment on pending scandals within the speech or message, since the president usually tries to maintain an upbeat tone and focus on his agenda for the coming year.
Having said that, I’m sure that one could find examples of deception in 215 years worth of messages. I don’t have any examples off the top of my head. I think that most examples could and would be disputed, since we have trouble agreeing on history even long after the fact, and even in cases where a “fact” has clearly proven to be untrue, one could argue that the president believed it was true and did not intend to deceive.
Bump.
Here is the text of every speech since 1945, in case anyone wants to go a-rummaging. I’d do it, but I don’t have enough No-Doz.