1902 State of the Union Address

1902 State of the Union Address

Date	December 2, 1902 (1902-12-02)
Venue	House Chamber, United States Capitol
Location	Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°53′23″N 77°00′32″W
Type	State of the Union Address
Participants	Theodore Roosevelt
Previous	1901 State of the Union Address
Next	1903 State of the Union Address

The 1902 State of the Union Address was given on Tuesday, December 2, 1902, by the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. It was the second address by Roosevelt.

Themes

The speech addressed the successes of the past and the challenges the country might face in the 20th century. Roosevelt outlined his plan for addressing corporate greed and unchecked power. Foreign policy mentions included Cuba and Europe. He spoke of the progress in work of replacing the spoils system with merit based appointments to Government by saying:

Gratifying progress has been made during the year in the extension of the merit system of making appointments in the Government service. It should be extended by law to the District of Columbia. It is much to be desired that our consular system be established by law on a basis providing for appointment and promotion only in consequence of proved fitness.