This isn't entirely uncommon, however, as the designation of State of the Union is more a technicality than anything, notes the American Presidency Project. Starting with former President Ronald ...

While those speeches aren’t technically considered a State of the Union address, they have the same impact as one, according to the American Presidency Project, a non-profit and non-partisan ...

According to the American Presidency Project, the impacts of these first-year speeches should be considered to have the same heft as the State of the Union addresses that follow in subsequent years.

The idea of not calling the first address the State of the Union is a relatively new practice in American history. One stated belief is because when the president addresses Congress the first time ...

according to the American Presidency Project, a non-profit and non-partisan website created and managed by the University of California in 1999. The State of the Union Address is written into the ...