Talk:United States Oval Office Address

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: Justinevierra.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 13:24, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Oval Office Address article
I've wanted to see this Wikipedia article exist for a long time, considering the importance of an Oval Office Address, so I decided to finally create it. I am, however, a novice when it comes to Wikipedia, and this subject area certainly is not my strongest, so if anybody can improve or expand it, it would be greatly beneficial. Thank you. Crazy Eddy (talk) 12:31, 26 August 2010 (UTC) Trump`s remarks on the failed repeal of Obamacare should not be on here he was speaking to the media and not to the American people — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.147.81.144 (talk) 23:52, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Inconsistency That Needs to be Addressed
The text asserts that the announcment to desegregate schools was the second Oval Office address. The timeline lists it as the fourth. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.155.228.66 (talk) 16:58, 27 November 2017 (UTC)

Not sure if the change was made after you posted this, but the article references the desegregation address as being the second televised address. It appears both of Truman's may have only been done over the radio (which would make sense, considering the dates). 2601:40E:8102:8C0:8E8:5E19:806C:3772 (talk) 23:36, 1 January 2018 (UTC)

Inclusion of all WH addresses
The table lists addresses made in White House rooms other than the Oval Office. These do not belong in the article, which specifically recognizes the "solemn" setting of the Oval Office. Article is therefore contradictory and does not provide the information readers want to know. enzo (talk) 22:14, 9 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I've begun purging the list. OCNative (talk) 08:15, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

Intro to Background Info
I added a slight intro to the background information. I also added a source for where I got mu information from. Erykah gandy (talk) 16:45, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

Inclusion of irrelevant speeches
As has been very clearly reported worldwide in the last 48 hours, this is Trump's first oval office address, not his 10th or however many are listed. When I viewed this article about a year or two ago there were only about 3 addresses for Obama, now there's 20. These are completely different from the addresses before 2000. Everything on this list that is not an oval office address needs to be removed. Bomberswarm2 (talk) 05:28, 9 January 2019 (UTC)


 * As noted above several times, we're inconsistent in allowing several non-oval office speeches into this list. Has Trump made just 1 Oval Office Address or 16? We need a careful definition. I'd guess he's only made 1 formal evening speech directed to the general American public.  But perhaps dozens of on-camera "hello to the crowds" type speeches, and of course hundreds of "Mike, could you have them bring me a cheeseburger" off-camera addresses.
 * The NYT has some history here.
 * Smallbones( smalltalk ) 00:18, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
 * I agree with most of the comments here. There is a clear difference of "Oval Office Addresses" from the more broad "Address to the Nation" a president might give. In recent history, presidents have given important remarks direct to camera broadcast nationwide more often from the East Room or other White House locations than the Oval Office. More clarity in the talk section of this article and a consensus would be good on what exactly this article should refer to. Ben76266 (talk) 18:31, 30 June 2023 (UTC)

I think we need to differentiate between "addresses to the nation" (given direct to camera, and usually broadcast "live") and speeches (some of which are just press conferences). Personally I would reframe the whole page to focus on the Addresses to the Nation, as these are the special direct to the public speeches. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Marcusblock (talk • contribs) 10:04, 10 January 2019 (UTC)

There is no need for a careful definition. It's obvious; an oval office address is from the oval office, and an address (i.e. directed to the nation). A speech is not an address. enzo (talk) 00:43, 29 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Fortunately, nearly every speech listed has a video link. Clicking on most of them clearly show they're not in the Oval Office.  I think right now the simpler task is purging everything that isn't in the Oval Office, which I've begun doing. OCNative (talk) 08:17, 16 February 2020 (UTC)

International viewpoint
The article focuses solely on the Address to the Nation in an American context, when the term has been formally used to describe other important addresses in other countries, for example in the United Kingdom (including for devolved nations and the monarch in both the UK and the wider Commonwealth, including governor generals), France, Ireland,, Ghana , Czechoslovakia (historical), Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Guyana, Russia, etc. Maybe the article should be retitled to Address to the Nation (United States)? Or maybe cutting down info about the Address to the Nation in the US and adding info about it in other countries, while making a new article entitled Addresses to the Nation in the United States or Address to the Nation (United States)? ThatRandomGuy1 (talk) 00:58, 5 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I agree - Address to the Nation (United States) would be a reasonable name for this article as it currently exists. If more info about address to the nation by the leaders of other countries are added, the current title would be appropriate. Ben76266 (talk) 18:25, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
 * can be easily solved by placing those texts below. Just need a good lead in which you may help maybe? Beshogur (talk) 09:51, 21 September 2023 (UTC)
 * I created a new article under Address to the Nation (which redirected to this article) to create an international overview of similar speeches. The UK section that was removed from this article is also there. Any international expansion would be appreciated. Unsure if Christmas messages should get their own overview article or be included there (currently most are mentioned in the Royal Christmas message article which also isnt ideal) @ThatRandomGuy1 @Beshogur @Ben76266 — jonas (talk) 22:09, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Split article into List of US presidential addresses to the nation
This is taking too much place. Thoughts? Beshogur (talk) 09:45, 21 September 2023 (UTC)

Reverted back to United States Oval Office Address
This article is all about other address to the nation from the United States outside of Oval Office, not in the Oval Office. Thoughts? Akhil K. (talk) 02:18, 19 April 2024 (UTC)

List and scope
this has been mentioned before, but all non-televised, non-Oval Office Addresses need to be removed from this article. The main body cant state Eisenhower made then second every Address of the type this article is supposed to be about, then the list features a dozen FDR broadcasts. We already have lists for State of the Union addresses or Executive Orders, so I think having an article about ALL presidential speeches to the nation in one article and this one only about Oval Office Addresses, which are necessarily a subset of the first one, is pretty reasonable. The reason this article exists is because this particular format is considered especially iconic, and should probably feature a section on cultural impact (SNL, movies, parodies, the "My fellow Americans" line etc) and get rid of the list of speeches not given in the Oval Office. — jonas (talk) 21:35, 6 July 2024 (UTC)