 President George W. Bush during the speech, with Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi behind him | |
| Date | January 23, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Time | 9:00 p.m. EST |
| Duration | 49 minutes |
| Venue | House Chamber, United States Capitol |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′19.8″N 77°00′32.8″W / 38.888833°N 77.009111°W |
| Type | State of the Union Address |
| Participants | |
| Previous | 2006 State of the Union Address |
| Next | 2008 State of the Union Address |
The 2007 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on January 23, 2007, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 110th United States Congress. It was Bush's sixth State of the Union Address and his seventh speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by Dick Cheney, the vice president, in his capacity as the president of the Senate.
It was the first address to a Democratic-controlled Congress since 1994. Furthermore, the speech marked the second time that a Democrat sat behind President Bush during a joint session of Congress and the first time at a State of the Union address. Traditionally, the Speaker of the House and the Vice President (the President of the Senate) are the only individuals on the rostrum with the President. However, in a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001, following the September 11 attacks nine days earlier, president pro tempore Robert Byrd, a Democrat, took the place of Vice President Cheney, who was at an undisclosed location.[1] As the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi is also the first woman in American history to stand on the podium during a State of the Union address.
President Bush began his address by recognizing the new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
And tonight I have the high privilege and distinct honor of my own as the first president to begin the State of the Union message with these words: Madam Speaker.[2]
- ^ Sobieraj, Sandra. "Bush draws the line". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 27 January 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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