Republican response to the State of the Union address

The Republican response to the State of the Union address, sometimes referred to simply as the Republican response, is a rebuttal speech, often brief, delivered by a representative (or representatives) of the Republican Party following a presidential State of the Union address when the president is a Democrat. When the president is a Republican, a similar rebuttal is referred to as the Democratic response.

The most recent Republican response occurred following President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on January 25, 2011. It was delivered by Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan from the room of the House Budget Committee, which Ryan chairs.[1] Additionally, Obama's 2011 message was also responded to by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who offered web-broadcast response on behalf of the Tea Party movement.[2]

Contents

List of Republican responses

Date President Response given by[3]
January 12, 1966 Lyndon Johnson U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen (Illinois) and U.S. Representative Gerald Ford (Michigan) 1
January 10, 1967 Lyndon Johnson U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen (Illinois) and U.S. Representative Gerald Ford (Michigan)
January 17, 1968 Lyndon Johnson U.S. Senators Thomas Kuchel (California), Charles Percy (Illinois), Howard Baker (Tennessee), Hugh Scott (Pennsylvania), John Tower (Texas), Peter Dominick (Colorado), Robert P. Griffin (Michigan), and George Murphy (California); U.S. Representatives William Steiger (Wisconsin), Gerald Ford (Michigan), Richard Poff (Virginia), George Bush (Texas), Robert Mathias (California), Charlotte Reid (Illinois), Albert Quie (Minnesota), and Melvin Laird (Wisconsin)
January 19, 1978 Jimmy Carter U.S. Senator Howard Baker Jr. (Tennessee) and U.S. Representative John Rhodes (Arizona)
January 23, 1979 Jimmy Carter U.S. Senator Howard Baker Jr. (Tennessee) and U.S. Representative John Rhodes (Arizona)
January 23, 1980 Jimmy Carter U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (Alaska) and U.S. Representative John Rhodes (Arizona)
January 25, 1994 Bill Clinton U.S. Senator Robert Dole (Kansas)
January 24, 1995 Bill Clinton New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman
January 23, 1996 Bill Clinton U.S. Senator Robert Dole (Kansas)
February 4, 1997 Bill Clinton U.S. Representative J.C. Watts (Oklahoma)
January 27, 1998 Bill Clinton U.S. Senator Trent Lott (Mississippi)
January 19, 1999 Bill Clinton U.S. Representatives Jennifer Dunn (Washington) and Steven Largent (Oklahoma)
January 27, 2000 Bill Clinton U.S. Senators Susan Collins (Maine) and William Frist (Tennessee)
January 27, 2010 Barack Obama Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell
January 25, 2011 Barack Obama U.S. Representative Paul Ryan (Wisconsin)

1 First organized, televised response to a presidential State of the Union message

Non-State of the Union responses

In addition to Republican responses to official State of the Union addresses, there have been two Republican responses to non-State of the Union speeches which were delivered soon after the inaugurations of Presidents Clinton and Obama.

Date President Address type Response given by
February 17, 1993 Bill Clinton First address to joint session of Congress U.S. Representative Bob Michel (Illinois)[4]
February 24, 2009 Barack Obama First address to joint session of Congress Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Norman, Joshua (January 25, 2011). "Paul Ryan: U.S. at "Tipping Point" over Debt". CBS News. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20029579-503544.html. Retrieved January 27, 2011. 
  2. ^ Bivins, Larry (January 25, 2011). "Tea Party's Michele Bachmann rips Barack Obama's State of the Union speech". http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/25/20110125michele-bachmann-tea-party-state-union-response.html. Retrieved January 27, 2011. 
  3. ^ "Televised Opposition Responses to State of the Union Messages (1966-Present)". Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/stateunion.html. Retrieved January 25, 2011. 
  4. ^ "Opposition Responses to the State of the Union Messages" (PDF). Senate.gov. http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/RespondStateUnion2.pdf. Retrieved January 28, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Transcript of Gov. Jindal's GOP response to Obama speech". CNN. February 24, 2009. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-02-24/politics/sotn.jindal.transcript_1_gop-response-bobby-jindal-americans?_s=PM:POLITICS. Retrieved January 28, 2011. 

External links