Length in words of State of the Union Messages

 

Chart Legend
NAVY BLUE = Oral Address before Congress 
ORANGE= Written Message Delivered to Congress 
ORANGE and NAVY stripe = Written Message to Congress with separate broadcast remarks to the Nation later the same day. (Roosevelt 1945 and Eisenhower 1956
ORANGE and GREEN stripe = Written Message to Congress in multiple parts submitted over the course of a few weeks.  (Taft 1911 & 1912 AND Nixon 1973
ORANGE and LIGHT BLUE stripe = Written Message to Congress read by the clerk of the House.  The reading was broadcast to foreign nations. (Truman 1953)

 

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Source(s)

John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project.