1897 State of the Union Address

The1897State of the Union Addresswas a speech given on Monday, December 6, 1897, byPresidentWilliam McKinley,the 25th president of theUnited States.It was his first State of the Union Address, and was read to both houses of the55th United States Congress.He began with, "A matter of genuine satisfaction is the growing feeling of fraternal regard and unification of all sections of our country, the incompleteness of which has too long delayed realization of the highest blessings of the Union. The spirit of patriotism is universal and is ever increasing in fervor."It took time for theSouthern statesto feel united with theNorthern states,and for the Western states to feel united with the eastern states.