State of the Policy
datascience@berkeley looked at each president’s first State of the Union address — from Woodrow Wilson to Donald J. Trump — to find out how often they mentioned these words.
Donald J. Trump
Party: Republican
Year: 2018
Total Word Count: 5,799
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Border | 6 | 0.1034661148 |
Crime | 6 | 0.1034661148 |
Drugs | 10 | 0.1724435247 |
Economy | 4 | 0.0689774099 |
Guns | 1 | 0.01724435247 |
Immigration | 11 | 0.1896878772 |
Military | 4 | 0.0689774099 |
Prison | 2 | 0.03448870495 |
Terrorism | 9 | 0.1551991723 |
Barack Obama
Party: Democrat
Year: 2010
Total Word Count: 7,304
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Border | 2 | 0.0273822563 |
Drugs | 1 | 0.01369112815 |
Economy | 18 | 0.2464403067 |
Housing | 2 | 0.0273822563 |
Immigration | 2 | 0.0273822563 |
Medicaid/Medicare | 5 | 0.06845564074 |
Military | 2 | 0.0273822563 |
Terrorism | 2 | 0.0273822563 |
George W. Bush
Party: Republican
Year: 2002
Total Word Count: 3,878
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Border | 3 | 0.07735946364 |
Drugs | 2 | 0.05157297576 |
Economy | 7 | 0.1805054152 |
Environment | 1 | 0.02578648788 |
Medicaid/Medicare | 1 | 0.02578648788 |
Magnificently | 1 | 0.025786488 |
Military | 4 | 0.1031459515 |
Prison | 1 | 0.02578648788 |
Terrorism | 34 | 0.8767405879 |
Bill Clinton
Party: Democrat
Year: 1994
Total Word Count: 7,432
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Border | 1 | 0.01345532831 |
Crime | 16 | 0.215285253 |
Drugs | 11 | 0.1480086114 |
Economy | 13 | 0.174919268 |
Environment | 4 | 0.05382131324 |
Guns | 7 | 0.09418729817 |
Housing | 1 | 0.01345532831 |
Medicaid/Medicare | 4 | 0.05382131324 |
Military | 5 | 0.06727664155 |
Prison | 1 | 0.01345532831 |
Terrorism | 1 | 0.01345532831 |
George Bush Sr.
Party: Republican
Year: 1990
Total Word Count: 3,777
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Crime | 1 | 0.02647603918 |
Drugs | 5 | 0.1323801959 |
Economy | 4 | 0.1059041567 |
Environment | 7 | 0.1853322743 |
Housing | 1 | 0.02647603918 |
Immigration | 1 | 0.02647603918 |
Military | 6 | 0.1588562351 |
Prison | 1 | 0.02647603918 |
Ronald Reagan
Party: Republican
Year: 1982
Total Word Count: 5,154
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Crime | 2 | 0.0388048118 |
Drugs | 1 | 0.0194024059 |
Economy | 20 | 0.388048118 |
Medicaid/Medicare | 3 | 0.05820721769 |
Military | 8 | 0.1552192472 |
Terrorism | 1 | 0.0194024059 |
James Carter, Jr.
Party: Democrat
Year: 1978
Total Word Count: 4,580
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Economy | 26 | 0.5676855895 |
Housing | 1 | 0.02183406114 |
Military | 5 | 0.1091703057 |
Prison | 1 | 0.02183406114 |
Gerald Ford
Party: Republican
Year: 1975
Total Word Count: 4,126
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Economy | 18 | 0.4362578769 |
Environment | 4 | 0.09694619486 |
Military | 7 | 0.169655841 |
Richard Nixon
Party: Republican
Year: 1970
Total Word Count: 4,457
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Crime | 9 | 0.201929549 |
Economy | 7 | 0.1570563159 |
Environment | 4 | 0.08974646623 |
Housing | 2 | 0.04487323312 |
Military | 3 | 0.06730984967 |
Lyndon B. Johnson
Party: Democrat
Year: 1964
Total Word Count: 3,168
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Border | 2 | 0.06313131313 |
Economy | 6 | 0.1893939394 |
Housing | 4 | 0.1262626263 |
Immigration | 1 | 0.03156565657 |
Military | 3 | 0.0946969697 |
John F. Kennedy
Party: Democrat
Year: 1961
Total Word Count: 5,274
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Border | 1 | 0.01896094046 |
Economy | 25 | 0.4740235116 |
Environment | 1 | 0.01896094046 |
Housing | 3 | 0.05688282139 |
Military | 5 | 0.09480470231 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Party: Republican
Year: 1953
Total Word Count: 6,973
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Drugs | 1 | 0.01434102969 |
Economy | 31 | 0.4445719203 |
Environment | 1 | 0.01434102969 |
Housing | 2 | 0.02868205937 |
Immigration | 4 | 0.05736411874 |
Military | 12 | 0.1720923562 |
Harry S. Truman
Party: Democrat
Year: 1946
Total Word Count: 27,465
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Crime | 1 | 0.003640997633 |
Economy | 88 | 0.3204077917 |
Environment | 1 | 0.003640997633 |
Housing | 37 | 0.1347169124 |
Immigration | 1 | 0.003640997633 |
Military | 15 | 0.0546149645 |
Prison | 1 | 0.003640997633 |
Refugees | 2 | 0.007281995267 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Party: Democrat
Year: 1934
Total Word Count: 2,230
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Crime | 1 | 0.04484304933 |
Economy | 3 | 0.134529148 |
Herbert Hoover
Party: Republican
Year: 1929
Total Word Count: 10,994
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Border | 1 | 0.009095870475 |
Crime | 4 | 0.0363834819 |
Economy | 16 | 0.1455339276 |
Housing | 1 | 0.009095870475 |
Immigration | 4 | 0.0363834819 |
Military | 1 | 0.009095870475 |
Prison | 7 | 0.06367109332 |
Calvin Coolidge
Party: Republican
Year: 1923
Total Word Count: 6,706
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Crime | 2 | 0.02982403817 |
Drugs | 1 | 0.01491201909 |
Economy | 8 | 0.1192961527 |
Housing | 1 | 0.01491201909 |
Immigration | 3 | 0.04473605726 |
Prison | 2 | 0.02982403817 |
Very | 5 | 0.074560095 |
Warren Harding
Party: Republican
Year: 1921
Total Word Count: 5,606
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Economy | 10 | 0.1783803068 |
Woodrow Wilson
Party: Democrat
Year: 1913
Total Word Count: 3,553
| Word | Frequency | Percentage of Speech |
|---|---|---|
Economy | 2 | 0.05629045877 |
Military | 1 | 0.02814522938 |
Frequency adjusted for speech length.
Similar variations of words were combined. For example: immigrant, immigrants, and immigration are all categorized under “immigration.”
Source: The American Presidency Project — http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/sou.php