Obama to define legacy in State of the Union Address
He plans to focus beyond next election.
President Obama’s last constitutionally required report to Congress on Tuesday will go beyond the typical “laundry list” of policy proposals that are the hallmark of the annual address, White House aides say, instead delivering what they suggested would be a more profound statement on the State of the Union.
With a Republican-controlled Congress and a presidential campaign in full swing, Obama would be unlikely to get much of his legislative agenda through Congress anyway. And so Tuesday, aides say Obama will use the speech to reflect on not just the year ahead, but his entire presidency — and the generation that grew up in it.
“This is the grandest stage in all of American politics,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. “In this case, he wants to focus most of his time on the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the country.”
He’ll also look back. Obama has signaled that he intends to reflect on some of the most momentous decisions of his presidency: the auto industry bailout, health insurance legislation, and policies he credits with a 70month streak of job creation. In his weekly radio address Saturday, Obama also hinted at a theme of his speech to Congress: “America can do anything.”
“Even in times of great challenge and change, our future is entirely up to us. That’s been on my mind while I’m writing my final State of the Union Address,” he said.
The last State of the Union Address can be challenging for any president, as the nation’s focus turns to the next campaign and the gears of Congress become locked. President Reagan eschewed the temptation to burnish his legacy in his last State of the Union Address in 1988, saying he would “leave that to history. We’re not finished yet.”
By contrast, President Clinton gave the longest State of the Union history in 2000, an 88- minute address full of optimistic and futuristic rhetoric about the “mountaintop of a new millennium,” but also designed to boost Vice President Al Gore’s accomplishments.
The White House is suggesting, however, that Obama’s speech won’t be about Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. “This year, the president will do what is rarely done in Washington: Think beyond the next election,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough wrote to supporters last week.
But in an interview on CNN’s
State of the Union Sunday, McDonough said Obama will seek to fix the electoral process. “You’ll hear the president talk about making sure that every American has a chance to influence this democracy. Not the select few, not the millionaires and the billionaires, but every American. And when we draw on the strength of every American the sky is the limit for this country,” he said.
Still, there are indications that Obama won’t completely free himself from the litany of policy proposals that has defined the speech through its history.
Obama’s proposals for stricter gun safety legislation will certainly be a focus, and Obama promised gun control advocates Friday that he would leave a seat empty in the first lady’s box to symbolize victims of gun violence. He’ll also likely address the Trans-Pacific trade deal, the battle against the Islamic State, and immigration — especially the Syrian refugee crisis.
“This year, the president will do what is rarely done in Washington: Think beyond the next election.” Denis McDonough, White House chief of staff