At the end of his speech last night, President Obama said, “And tonight, more than two centuries later, it’s because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our union is strong.”
If you were surprised to hear that the union is strong then this was probably the first time you’ve heard a State of the Union address. Zach Wendling tracked the state of our union in each of the past sixteen years and found:
The state of our Union is . . .
- 2011: Strong
- 2010: Strong
- 2009: Stronger than before
- 2008: Strong
- 2007: Strong
- 2006: Strong
- 2005: Confident and Strong
- 2004: Confident and Strong
- 2003: Strong
- 2002: Never been stronger
- 2000: Strongest it has ever been
- 1999: Strong
- 1998: Strong
- 1997: Strong
- 1996: Strong
- 1995: Stronger than it was two year ago
- 1994: Growing stronger
From the looks of it, 1993 was our weakest year and 2002 was our strongest. Also, while we are still strong, we haven’t been confident since 2005.
