L -O-N-G State Of The Union

President Obama spoke for more than 70 minutes last night in what was one of the longest State of the Union speeches on record. In fact, it rivaled the long winded speeches of President Clinton.
Here are the lengths of State of the Union speeches of some recent presidents:

Gerald Ford

Shortest—Jan. 15, 1975: 41 minutes

Longest—Jan. 19, 1976: 50 minutes, 38 seconds

Jimmy Carter

Shortest—Jan. 21, 1980: 32 minutes, 4 seconds

Longest—Jan. 19, 1978: 46 minutes, 4 seconds

Ronald Reagan

Shortest—Feb. 4, 1986: About 31 minutes

Longest—Jan. 25, 1983: About 46 minutes

George H.W. Bush

Shortest—Jan. 31, 1990: 35 minutes, 43 seconds

Longest—Jan. 28, 1992: 51 minutes, 4 seconds

Bill Clinton

Shortest—Jan. 25, 1994: 1 hour, 3 minutes, 44 seconds

Longest—Jan. 27, 2000: 1 hour, 28 minutes, 49 seconds

George W. Bush

Shortest—Jan. 29, 2002: 47 minutes, 49 seconds

Longest—Jan. 28, 2003: 59 minutes, 35 seconds

Remember: A speech does not have to be long to be good. It merely has to be good. And it's worth noting that Ronald Reagen, the great communicator, never gave a State of the Union speech that exceeded 46 minutes. In fact, most of Reagan's speeches came in at about 30 minutes.