Trump gave one of the longest first speeches to Congress
President Trump delivered his first speech to Congress Tuesday in a wide-ranging address that lasted a little over an hour, making it the second-longest such speech among modern presidents.
Since Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton is the only president to deliver a longer first speech to Congress than Trump.
Here's where Trump's speech ranks in terms of length compared to other modern presidents:
- Bill Clinton: One hour and five minutes
- Donald Trump: One hour
- Barack Obama: 51 minutes
- George W. Bush: 49 minutes
- George H.W. Bush: 48 minutes
- Jimmy Carter: 46 minutes
- Gerald Ford: 41 minutes
- Richard Nixon: 36 minutes
- Ronald Reagan: 33 minutes
With the exception of Reagan, all the times above are from The American Presidency Project. The length of Reagan's speech was determined from the speech as shown on C-SPAN.
When it comes to the number of words spoken —for which the data on more presidents is available — Trump's speech is closer to the middle of the pack:
- Bill Clinton: 7,426 words
- Dwight Eisenhower: 6,973 words
- Calvin Coolidge: 6,706 words
- Harry Truman: 6,028 words
- Barack Obama: 5,902 words
- Warren Harding: 5,606 words
- John Kennedy: 5,274 words
- Donald Trump: 5,006 words
- George H.W. Bush: 4,811 words
- Jimmy Carter: 4,580 words
- Richard Nixon: 4,457 words
- Ronald Reagan: 4,446 words
- George W. Bush: 4,362 words
- Gerald Ford: 4,126 words
- Woodrow Wilson: 3,553 words
- Lydon Johnson: 3,168 words
- Franklin Roosevelt: 2,230 words
Source: The American Presidency Project