Thomas Jefferson and the State of the Union Address

The President “shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”[1]

            The State of the Union Address has grown into a grand show of pomp and fanfare. It no longer serves its intended purpose, but has become a platform to spew forth party ideals and policies. Thomas Jefferson would have been disappointed with Obama’s State of the Union address not only for how it was presented, but also for what he said.

From 1790 to 1946, this address from the President was known as the Annual Message. Unlike today, the Annual Message was not delivered in person through a grand speech, but was simply a message written by the President and delivered to Congress. Thomas Jefferson was the first to write his State of the Union address and set the precedent until Taft’s final message in 1912.[2] There is great reason why Thomas Jefferson opted to deliver his message in this fashion.

Jefferson promoted Republican values and government and wanted to avoid the old British practice of giving a “Speech from the Throne.”[3] The Founding Fathers were all very familiar with this British tradition of the King delivering his message to Parliament with great pomp and fanfare. The man who penned the Declaration of Independence, who was always attempting to promote Republican government, did not want to emulate monarchical traditions.

Before he became vice president, Jefferson was already criticizing many in the government, who were attempting to bring back these old practices.[4] He wrote a letter expressing his concern over the growing influence of the new Federalist party and said, an “[a]nglican, monarchical, and aristocratical party has sprung up” and was to “draw over us the substance as it has already done the forms of the British government.”[5] He went on to criticize “…the pompous cavalcade to the state house on the meeting of Congress, the formal speech from the throne, the procession of Congress in a body to re-echo the speech in an answer….”[6]

There is a great difference between the first Annual Message delivered by Thomas Jefferson on December 8, 1801, and the State of the Union Address given by Obama on January 28, 2014. First of all, there is the length. Jefferson’s message is only 3,215 words longs; whereas Obama’s address is over twice as long at a whopping 7,042 words. Granted, both messages address military issues, which is to be  expected since the President is the Commander-in-Chief; but their view points on the government’s role and military actions are different; as well as is their ideals on the execution of their office and authority.

Jefferson’s position called for an overall reduction of the government’s role and size. He saw that there was “reasonable ground” to “safely dispense with all the internal taxes.”[7] He explained to Congress that “sound principles will not justify our taxing the industry of our fellow citizens to accumulate treasure for wars to happen we know not when, and which might not, perhaps, happen but from the temptations offered by that treasure.”[8] Naturally, in his day, taxes were meant to support the functions of government and to help pay for the raising of armies, when called for, and the maintenance of a navy. Jefferson would disagree with Obama’s call to have both the Democrats and Republicans work together to fix the tax codes, but to rather reduce them greatly.[9] The size and scope of government, as it has grown to today, would have abhorred Jefferson.

In his message, Jefferson explained the purpose of the Federal government: “When we consider that this Government is charged with the external and mutual relations only of these States; that the States themselves have principal care of our persons, our property, and our reputation, constituting the great field of human concerns, we may well doubt whether our organization is not too complicated, too expensive; whether offices and officers have not been multiplied unnecessarily and sometimes injuriously to the service they were meant to promote (italics added for emphasis).”[10]

However, when reviewing Obama’s current State of the Union, he called for more Federal oversight and expanse of government programs. He claims that he is “committed to making Washington work better,”[11] but his proposals to do so only call for more government action. Jefferson called for a reduction of government offices that were hindering prosperity in America and draining the treasury of tax payer dollars.

Jefferson said, “I have begun the reduction of what was deemed unnecessary. The expenses of diplomatic agency have been considerably diminished. The inspectors of internal revenue who were found to obstruct the accountability of the institution have been discontinued. Several agencies created by Executive authorities, on salaries fixed by that also, have been suppressed.”[12]

Unlike Obama who declared earlier this year, "I've got a pen and I've got a phone -- and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward,"[13] Jefferson understood his role in the Constitution. Regarding further reductions to government, Jefferson said, “But the great mass of public offices is established by law, and therefore by law alone can be abolished.”[14] Congress has the authority to create laws and Jefferson knew this and respected their authority.

Obama stated that he was concerned for the economy and American jobs, but his approach and solution to the problem are at odds with Jefferson: “Considering the general tendency to multiply offices and dependencies and to increase expense to the ultimate term of burthen which the citizen can bear, it behooves us to avail ourselves of every occasion which presents itself for taking off the surcharge, that it never may be seen here that after leaving to labor the smallest portion of its earnings on which it can subsist, Government shall itself consume the whole residue of what it was instituted to guard.”[15]

Obama said, “Let's do more to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who create most new jobs in America.”[16] Jefferson said that “agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the 4 pillars of our prosperity,” and would agree that government should do its part to help promote its growth.[17] Unlike Obama belief, Jefferson said they are “most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise.”[18] That means Obama’s statement that “my administration will keep working with the industry to sustain production and jobs growth,”[19] will only inhibit and hurt the prosperity of the economy. The old saying, “less is more,” is never truer than today.

Jefferson would agree with one statement of Obama, but not his philosophy on how to go about it: “I strongly believe our leadership and our security cannot depend on our outstanding military alone.”[20] The third President of the United States understood a need for a military to protect America from attack and invasion, but his method and approach to the same problem was completely different from Obama.

For defense against invasion their number is as nothing, nor is it conceived needful or safe that a standing army should be kept up in time of peace for that purpose. Uncertain as we must ever be of the particular point in our circumference where an enemy may choose to invade us, the only force which can be ready at every point and competent to oppose them is the body of the neighboring citizens as formed into a militia... These considerations render it important that we should at every session continue to amend the defects which from time to time shew themselves in the laws for regulating the militia until they are sufficiently perfect. Nor should we now or at any time separate until we say we have done everything for the militia which we could do were an enemy at our door.[21]

The People, are responsible for our defense. That is the purpose of the Second Amendment. Every citizen should be ready to take up arms and protect their nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Granted, there are nations and fanatical groups in the world, who wish to do harm to the United States; but how much of their hatred is a result of the government’s actions to police the world and their intrusion on the international markets? Jefferson would have agreed with Ron Paul when he said, “Government in a free society should have no authority to meddle in social activities or the economic transactions of individuals. Nor should government meddle in the affairs of other nations. All things peaceful, even when controversial, should be permitted.”[22]

Obama’s diplomatic policy is contrary to that of Jefferson’s and all it will bring is additional war. Ron Paul commented on Washington’s current policy and its effects: “Violent anti-Americanism…has engulfed the world. Because the phenomenon of ‘blow-back’ is not understood or denied, our foreign policy is destined to keep us involved in many wars that we have no business being in. National bankruptcy and a greater threat to our national security will result.”[23] 

The State of the Union address has reverted back to the days of King George III with all its pomp and fanfare. Government has overstepped its intended constitutional authority and is no longer limited as Jefferson had hoped it would be. Hopefully, American citizens today will follow Jefferson’s advice and attempt to “maintain peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at home; to establish principles and practices of administration favorable to the security of liberty and property, and to reduce expenses to what is necessary for the useful purposes of Government.”[24]  

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[1] U.S Constitution Art. II, Sect. 3, Clause 1.

[2] Gerhard Peters, “State of the Union Addresses and Messages,” accessed February 1, 2014, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php.

[3] Nathan Raab, “Why Thomas Jefferson Would Hate Today’s State of the Union Address,” Forbes, January 27, 2014, accessed on February 1, 2014, http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanraab/2014/01/27/why-thomas-jefferson-would-hate-todays-state-of-the-union-addresses/.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Thomas Jefferson: "First Annual Message," December 8, 1801. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29443.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Barack Obama, “Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address,” The Washington Post, January 28, 2014, accessed on February 1, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/full-text-of-obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address/2014/01/28/e0c93358-887f-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Barack Obama, “Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address.”

[12] Thomas Jefferson: "First Annual Message."

[13] Barack Obama, “’I’ve got a pen’: Obama raises hackles with executive actions,” Fox News, January 20, 2014, accessed on February 1, 2014, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/20/ive-got-pen-obama-raises-hackles-with-executive-action-push/.

[14] Thomas Jefferson: "First Annual Message."

[15] Ibid.

[16] Barack Obama, “Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address.”

[17] Thomas Jefferson: "First Annual Message."

[18] Ibid.

[19] Barack Obama, “Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address.”

[20] Ibid.

[21] Thomas Jefferson: "First Annual Message."

[22] Ron Paul, “Transcript of Farewell Address,” November 14, 2012, accessed on February 1, 2014, http://www.campaignforliberty.org/national-blog/transcript-of-farewell-address/

[23] Ibid.

[24] Thomas Jefferson: "First Annual Message."