<P> While not required to deliver a speech, every president since Woodrow Wilson, with the notable exception of Herbert Hoover, has made at least one State of the Union report as a speech delivered before a joint session of Congress . Before that time, most presidents delivered the State of the Union as a written report . </P> <P> Since Franklin Roosevelt, the State of the Union is given typically each January before a joint session of the United States Congress and is held in the House of Representatives chamber of the United States Capitol . Newly inaugurated presidents generally deliver an address to Congress in February of the first year of their term, but this speech is not officially considered to be a "State of the Union". </P> <P> What began as a communication between president and Congress has become a communication between the president and the people of the United States . Since the advent of radio, and then television, the speech has been broadcast live on most networks, preempting scheduled programming . To reach the largest audience, the speech, once given during the day, is now typically given in the evening, after 9pm ET (UTC - 5). </P> <P> George Washington delivered the first regular annual message before a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1790, in New York City, then the provisional U.S. capital . In 1801, Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of delivering the address in person, regarding it as too monarchical (similar to the Speech from the Throne). Instead, the address was written and then sent to Congress to be read by a clerk until 1913 when Woodrow Wilson re-established the practice despite some initial controversy . However, there have been exceptions to this rule . Presidents during the latter half of the 20th century have sent written State of the Union addresses . The last President to do this was Jimmy Carter in 1981, after his defeat by Ronald Reagan and days before his term ended . </P>

When does state of the union address begin