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Tags: biden | speech | congress | wordy

Biden's SOTU Most Wordy in 6 Decades

By Peter Malbin | Wednesday, 08 February 2023 01:40 PM EST

President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday was the most wordy in six decades, beating the former leading speech by one word.

Biden spoke 9,191 words, one more word than during former President Bill Clinton's 1995 State of the Union, according to a count from USA Today.

A White House official told The Hill that it wasn't intentional.

Biden also now holds the top spot for the highest average number of words in SOTU addresses, at 8,300, USA Today reported. His address on Tuesday, during which he went off-script multiple times, sometimes to respond to hecklers, was significantly longer than the 7,705 words in his 2022 State of the Union and the 8,003 words in his 2021 speech to a joint session of Congress.

Clinton is the second most wordy presidential speaker, with 7,373 words as his average, USA Today found.

Clinton still has the record for longest State of the Union address after his 2000 speech lasted more than an hour and 28 minutes. Biden's speech on Tuesday was an hour and 13 minutes long.

In wordiness, former President Barack Obama comes in third with 6,708 average words in State of the Union addresses, USA Today found, followed by former President Donald Trump at 5,650 and former President George W. Bush at 5,081.

Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Carter were not wordy by comparison, with their averages at 4,355 and 3,700, respectively, USA Today reported.

In his speech Tuesday, Biden said: "That's always been my vision for our country: to restore the soul of the nation, to rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class, to unite the country. We've been sent here to finish the job."

He repeatedly urged the GOP lawmakers to help him "finish the job" – he used the phrase 12 times – in passing a series of bills popular with the American people, Politico reported.

Biden's speech focused mainly on domestic policy issues, highlighting his legislative achievements on infrastructure, job creation, consumer protection initiatives, police reform, and working with Republicans in Congress.

The New York Times wrote that Biden's long speech was delivered "fast and loud."

"Mr. Biden, who has dealt with a stutter, stumbled only occasionally," The Times noted. "And the back-and-forth with hecklers gave it juice — not to mention, clips bound to be played and replayed on the next day's news."

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