#1697 The State of the Union as Political Theater

Frequent guest host David Horton welcomes Thomas Jefferson to the podcast to discuss political theater and State of the Union addresses. Although Jefferson was a master of political theater, he chose not to take his annual State of the Union messages in person to Congress. He sent his messages by courier and assumed Congress would study them at their convenience. After Jefferson makes his views clear, Clay Jenkinson breaks character to discuss the uses and abuses of modern State of the Union addresses. It was Ronald Reagan who began the tradition of the president pointing to extraordinary Americans in the gallery to honor their service and sacrifices, or to lament their sufferings. Donald Trump's recent 2026 State of the Union Message was much more like a reality television show than anything in previous administrations, including a sustained celebration of the U.S. Olympic hockey program. This program was recorded on February 25, 2026.

You can listen to #1697 The State of the Union as Political Theater online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#1697 The State of the Union as Political Theater is an episode from The Thomas Jefferson Hour by Listening to America.

This episode is 51:36 long.

This episode was published on Mar 30, 2026.

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