Question: Why does the President give an annual State of the Union address?

Focusing on the Constitutional -

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union...
(US Constitution, Article II, Section 3)

State of the Union, by Matthew Spalding

As Chief Justice John Marshall pointed out in Marbury v. Madison (1803), much of the power of the executive is, in its nature, discretionary. Not so with the President's obligation to provide Congress with a report on the state of the Union....

The Framers fastened this duty upon the President as a means of transparency and accountability. Justice Story noted, "He is thus justly made responsible, not merely for a due administration of the existing systems, but for due diligence and examination into the means of improving them."

(The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pg 216)

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