On Tuesday night, President Obama will face the nation for his first State of the Union since his re-election. The speech will be unavoidable, with all networks set to broadcast wall-to-wall coverage.
Can you remember the key moments from last year’s State of the Union? No? That’s because many of Barack Obama’s historic and noteworthy speeches weren’t State of the Union addresses.
Here are nine of President Obama’s most noteworthy oratories, as mentioned Sunday by host Melissa Harris-Perry. None of them are State of the Union addresses, but they’re ones you likely remember:
1. Then-State Sen. Obama spoke against power about the Iraq war.October, 2002
The memorable line: “That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.”
2. Obama, a state senator running for the U.S. Senate, gave the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.July 27, 2004
3. Presidential candidate Obama made a concession speech that sounded like a victory speech after losing to Hillary Clinton at the 2008 New Hampshire primary.January 8, 2008
4. Candidate Obama made a speech about race following the Jeremiah Wright scandal.March 18, 2008
5. Then-Senator Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president in front of a gigantic crowd at Invesco Field in Denver, Colo.August 28, 2008
6. At the memorial service for Tucson shooting victims, President Obama spoke about Gabrielle Giffords opening her eyes for the first time.January 12, 2011
7. Pres. Obama confirmed that Osama bin Laden was killed by American forces in Pakistan.May 2, 2011
8. On the night of his re-election, Pres. Obama vowed, “The best is yet to come.”November 7, 2012
9. After the shootings in Newtown, Conn., Pres. Obama said, “Our hearts are broken.”December 14, 2012
Kailani Koenig