The Stats of the Union

George Washington delivering the first State of the Union speech                     PoodlesRock/Corbis

January 12's was our nation's 224th State of the Union address. How have these presidential speeches changed since the first one in 1790? An analysis, presented here in interactive graphs, gives an interesting overview of the history of the United States ~ of our concerns and priorities over the decades. What does it say, for example, that while the words "freedom," "God," and "Americans" were rarely used in the early years, they experienced a huge, sustained jump in popularity at about the time of FDR?: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/01/the-language-of-the-state-of-the-union/384575/
   An accompanying interactive map highlights those places that were mentioned most frequently in State of the Union speeches. Africa, China, the Middle East ~ the timing of our focus (or lack thereof) on these areas and more, including specific regions of the United States, is interesting but rarely surprising: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/01/mapping-the-state-of-the-union/384576/