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| In Joint Sessions of Congress, Capturing Moments of American Public Life | In Joint Sessions of Congress, Capturing Moments of American Public Life |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| WASHINGTON — President Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday will be part of an annual rite of modern presidents looking to lay out an agenda for governing and a stirring argument to support it. | |
| While the speech has all the trappings of grand ceremony, it more often than not slides as easily out of the country’s collective political consciousness as in. | While the speech has all the trappings of grand ceremony, it more often than not slides as easily out of the country’s collective political consciousness as in. |
| A few, though, have managed to stand apart, capturing — intentionally or not — a particular moment in American public life. | A few, though, have managed to stand apart, capturing — intentionally or not — a particular moment in American public life. |
| Here are some of the most memorable from years past. | Here are some of the most memorable from years past. |
| Addressing the nation just months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union speech made an aggressive case for an international fight against terrorism. To clarify the threat that he said faced the United States and its allies, Mr. Bush turned to a phrase that has echoed through history. | Addressing the nation just months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union speech made an aggressive case for an international fight against terrorism. To clarify the threat that he said faced the United States and its allies, Mr. Bush turned to a phrase that has echoed through history. |
| “States like these, and their terrorist allies,” he said, referring to Iran, Iraq and North Korea, “constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger.” | “States like these, and their terrorist allies,” he said, referring to Iran, Iraq and North Korea, “constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger.” |
| The words drew a sharp rebuke from the three nations but helped lay the groundwork for Mr. Bush’s foreign policy for years to come and specifically for the invasion of Iraq a year later — decisions that would come to define his presidency. | The words drew a sharp rebuke from the three nations but helped lay the groundwork for Mr. Bush’s foreign policy for years to come and specifically for the invasion of Iraq a year later — decisions that would come to define his presidency. |
| “We’ll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side,” he said. “I will not wait on events while dangers gather. I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer.” | |
| President Bill Clinton, mindful of his party’s stinging midterm losses, and with an eye on his own re-election, had a clear message in his State of the Union remarks in 1996. | President Bill Clinton, mindful of his party’s stinging midterm losses, and with an eye on his own re-election, had a clear message in his State of the Union remarks in 1996. |
| Declaring that “the era of big government is over,” he delivered a fulsome rhetorical realignment toward the political middle that came to shape much of his presidency. | Declaring that “the era of big government is over,” he delivered a fulsome rhetorical realignment toward the political middle that came to shape much of his presidency. |
| “We must go forward as one America, one nation working together, to meet the challenges we face together,” he said. “Self-reliance and teamwork are not opposing virtues — we must have both.” | “We must go forward as one America, one nation working together, to meet the challenges we face together,” he said. “Self-reliance and teamwork are not opposing virtues — we must have both.” |
| The line was Mr. Clinton’s answer to congressional Republicans who had built their power in part in opposition to his liberal policy agenda, and it struck a chord. | The line was Mr. Clinton’s answer to congressional Republicans who had built their power in part in opposition to his liberal policy agenda, and it struck a chord. |
| Mr. Clinton, who had won in an Electoral College landslide in 1992, did so again the year of that speech. But his address also influenced the Democratic Party’s posture for years to come — often to the frustration of its more liberal members. | Mr. Clinton, who had won in an Electoral College landslide in 1992, did so again the year of that speech. But his address also influenced the Democratic Party’s posture for years to come — often to the frustration of its more liberal members. |
| President Ronald Reagan was set to deliver his 1986 State of the Union address on Jan. 28, the day the American space shuttle Challenger exploded on live television, killing all seven people on board. As the nation mourned, the president decided to delay his address, for the first and only time in American history. | |
| He instead delivered a brief, somber and intimate speech from the Oval Office, mourning the nation’s loss and reaffirming its commitment to space exploration in spite of it. | He instead delivered a brief, somber and intimate speech from the Oval Office, mourning the nation’s loss and reaffirming its commitment to space exploration in spite of it. |
| A week later, when Mr. Reagan finally stood before Congress and the American people, he began by honoring “the valor of our seven Challenger heroes.” | A week later, when Mr. Reagan finally stood before Congress and the American people, he began by honoring “the valor of our seven Challenger heroes.” |
| “I hope we are now ready to do what they would want us to do: Go forward, America, reach for the stars,” he said. “We shall never forget those brave seven, but we shall go forward.” | |
| An unexpected and largely marginal exchange from President Barack Obama’s 2010 address came to be remembered. | An unexpected and largely marginal exchange from President Barack Obama’s 2010 address came to be remembered. |
| “With all due deference to separation of powers, last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections,” Mr. Obama said, referring to a recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. | “With all due deference to separation of powers, last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections,” Mr. Obama said, referring to a recent decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. |
| The comment was a rare, face-to-face rebuke of the Supreme Court by a sitting president. It prompted an even rarer response. | The comment was a rare, face-to-face rebuke of the Supreme Court by a sitting president. It prompted an even rarer response. |
| Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who had joined the majority in the case, broke with his fellow justices observing traditional physical restraint and shook his head at the president’s summary. He then appeared to mouth the words “not true.” | Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who had joined the majority in the case, broke with his fellow justices observing traditional physical restraint and shook his head at the president’s summary. He then appeared to mouth the words “not true.” |
| The exchange prompted a rush of commentary and foreshadowed what would prove to be a strained relationship between the two branches during Mr. Obama’s tenure. | The exchange prompted a rush of commentary and foreshadowed what would prove to be a strained relationship between the two branches during Mr. Obama’s tenure. |
| President Richard M. Nixon was almost 39 minutes into his less than 45-minute 1974 address before he raised the political scandal closing in on his presidency. But then he asked to offer “a personal word” about “the so-called Watergate affair.” | President Richard M. Nixon was almost 39 minutes into his less than 45-minute 1974 address before he raised the political scandal closing in on his presidency. But then he asked to offer “a personal word” about “the so-called Watergate affair.” |
| “I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and the other investigations of this matter to an end,” he said. “One year of Watergate is enough.” | “I believe the time has come to bring that investigation and the other investigations of this matter to an end,” he said. “One year of Watergate is enough.” |
| The Democratic members of the House and Senate leading investigations into the president’s conduct looked on stoically as the president declared that he had “no intention whatever of ever walking away from the job that the people elected me to do.” | The Democratic members of the House and Senate leading investigations into the president’s conduct looked on stoically as the president declared that he had “no intention whatever of ever walking away from the job that the people elected me to do.” |
| The speech turned out to be Mr. Nixon’s last to Congress. He resigned seven months later. | The speech turned out to be Mr. Nixon’s last to Congress. He resigned seven months later. |
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