A Brief History of Republican SOTU Responses

Cathy McMorris Rodgers is the fifth woman from the GOP to deliver a televised opposition response and the second youngest member overall in a congressional leadership position to do so

Late last week it was announced that five-term Washington U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers would deliver the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening.

As chair of the House Republican Conference, Representative McMorris Rodgers is the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress.

In the press release issued by House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell the word ‘family’ was used five times in McMorris Rodgers’ biography, highlighting her three young children.

To be sure, the Washington U.S. House member’s selection does continue a general trend by the GOP to put forth younger faces before the public to deliver these televised speeches.

At 44 years old, McMorris Rodgers is the youngest of the five women ever to deliver a televised Republican response to a presidential State of the Union Address – and just the second woman to give the speech solo.

The only other woman to deliver a solo GOP opposition response was then New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman in January 1995 during Bill Clinton’s first term.

Whitman was 48 years old at that time.

The other three Republican women to give such speeches are:

· Illinois U.S. Representative Charlotte Reid in January 1968 (54 years old): delivering comments along with seven other House members and eight U.S. Senators that year

· Washington U.S. Representative Jennifer Dunn in January 1999 (57 years old): with Oklahoma U.S. Representative Steve Largent

· Maine U.S. Senator Susan Collins in January 2000 (47 years old): with Tennessee U.S. Senator Bill Frist

Excluding the GOP 1968 response, in which 16 members of Congress spoke, McMorris Rodgers is the fifth youngest Republican to give a televised opposition response to the SOTU of the 24 who gave solo addresses or shared the podium with just one other speaker.

The four younger Republicans to give solo or joint responses were:

· Oklahoma U.S. Representative J.C. Watts in February 1997: 39 years
· Wisconsin U.S. Representative Paul Ryan in January 2011: 40 years
· Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio in February 2013: 41 years
· Oklahoma U.S. Representative Steve Largent in January 1999: 44 years (16,184 days)

The oldest Republican to deliver a SOTU response was Kansas U.S. Senator Bob Dole in January 1996 – just a half-year before he would resign from his seat during his failed presidential run.

Dole was 72 years old at that time.

On the other end of the spectrum, Wisconsin U.S. Representative William Steiger – one of the 16 Republicans to give comments in 1968 – was just 29 years old during his first term in the chamber.

Overall, GOPers from 20 states have delivered televised opposition responses since the first such speech in 1966.

Officeholders from Illinois, Michigan, and Tennessee have done so four times, with three each from Arizona, California, and Wisconsin, and two from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

Prior to 1998, Republicans selected to give such responses were usually Senate or House minority leaders (Senators Everett Dirksen, Howard Baker, Bob Dole; Representatives Gerald Ford, John Rhodes), majority leaders (Senators Dole, Trent Lott), or minority whips (Senators Thomas Kuchel, Ted Stevens).

Other recent speakers did go on to secure leadership positions within the party, with J.C. Watts (1997) becoming the Republican Conference Chairman a year later in 1998, Bill Frist (2000) becoming Senate Majority leader three years later in 2003, and Bob McDonnell (2010) becoming chair of the Republican Governor’s Association a year later in 2011.

At 44, McMorris Rodgers is eight years younger than the average GOP speaker delivering such opposition responses over the last 45+ years.

The only other Republican in a Congressional leadership position to deliver a SOTU response who was younger than McMorris Rodgers was Minority Leader Howard Baker of Tennessee in 1968 at 42 years old.

Republican SOTU Opposition Responses, 1966-2014

Year	Office	Response	State	Age
1966	US Representative	Gerald Ford	MI	52
	US Senator	Everett Dirksen	IL	70
1967	US Representative	Gerald Ford	MI	53
	US Senator	Everett Dirksen	IL	71
1968	US Representative	William Steiger	WI	29
	US Representative	Bob Mathias	CA	37
	US Senator	Howard Baker	TN	42
	US Senator	John Tower	TX	42
	US Representative	George Bush	TX	43
	US Senator	Robert Griffin	MI	44
	US Representative	Richard Poff	VA	44
	US Representative	Al Quie	MN	44
	US Representative	Melvin Laird	WI	45
	US Senator	Charles Percy	IL	48
	US Senator	Peter Dominick	CO	52
	US Representative	Charlotte Reid	IL	54
	US Representative	Gerald Ford	MI	54
	US Senator	Thomas Kuchel	CA	57
	US Senator	George Murphy	CA	65
	US Senator	Hugh Scott	PA	67
1978	US Senator	Howard Baker	TN	52
	US Representative	John Rhodes	AZ	61
1979	US Senator	Howard Baker	TN	53
	US Representative	John Rhodes	AZ	62
1980	US Senator	Ted Stevens	AK	56
	US Representative	John Rhodes	AZ	63
1994	US Senator	Bob Dole	KS	70
1995	Governor	Christine Todd Whitman	NJ	48
1996	US Senator	Bob Dole	KS	72
1997	US Representative	J.C. Watts	OK	39
1998	US Senator	Trent Lott	MS	56
1999	US Representative	Steve Largent	OK	44
	US Representative	Jennifer Dunn	WA	57
2000	US Senator	Susan Collins	ME	47
	US Senator	Bill Frist	TN	47
2010	Governor	Bob McDonnell	VA	55
2010	US Representative	Paul Ryan	WI	40
2012	Governor	Mitch Daniels	IN	62
2013	US Senator	Marco Rubio	FL	41
2014	US Representative	Cathy McMorris Rodgers	WA	44

Table compiled by Smart Politics.

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