Unified as Americans?

The State of the Union Address

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https://blackeyepolitics.com

Elizabeth Houlihan

The State of the Union Address is a yearly address to the American people delivered by the President at the start of each year to discuss the administrations point of view of the state, and nations planes for legislation. 

Since the first State of the Union address in 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson, there has been a total of 85 in-person addresses. The most recent being this year, President Donald Trump gave his speech on February 4th, 2020. 

Trump’s speech lasted for around 82 minutes. It is a historical 82 minutes, an 82 minutes where the American people could come together as one to hear their leader speak for their past, and future. 

However, with Trump, something stupid is bound to be said. No offense to Trump, it’s just who he is. However, he was actually respectful to the democratic party, and all people. For the first time in a while, it is possible that Americans felt unified.  

During his speech, administrative officials pushed the idea that Trump would extend an olive branch towards the democrats for the good of the country. Just on that note, Trump began with “There is a new opportunity in American politics, if only we have the courage to seize it.”. This ties back to what the President said in earlier moments of his speech, “Victory is not about winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country.” 

Many were surprised with this statement, agreeing that it was well said. Of course, Trump has been accused of many wrongdoings towards women. It was hard to miss the number of Democratic women sitting together on the House floor, who were wearing white to honor the suffragette movement. These remarkable women gave a surprising response to Trump’s economic success.  

Trump said, “All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before — and exactly one century after the Congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in the Congress than ever before.”. With this, the women of congress repeatedly interrupted his speech with cheers, giving each other high fives and hugs, celebrating their accomplishments. The women of congress began to chant “USA! USA!”. 

This was a powerful and eye opening moment. It was a split second in time where there wasn’t a Republican and Democratic party. It wasn’t women against Trump, or Trump against women. We weren’t North and South Korea. For a split second in time, we were the United States. We were able to come together as one to celebrate our achievements, and Americans were able to experience the power of true unity. 

Trump’s State of the Union was able to give the American people hope, something that we are in need of right now. So, is it possible that this country could really go back to being the United States? 

Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/politics/state-of-the-union-takeaways/index.html