2012 State of the Union Address

Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was the victim of an assassination attempt the previous year, was in attendance, as she planned to resign to focus on her rehabilitation from the shooting.

In addition to Giffords, other notable guests were invited at the behest of either the White House or the Republican leadership: The designated survivor is the member of the president's cabinet who does not attend the address in case of a catastrophic event, in order to maintain a continuity of government.

[5] During his state of the Union Address President Obama mentioned the completed US withdrawal from Iraq, the return of some US troops from Afghanistan and the accomplishments against the Taliban and al-Qaeda including the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki.

Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”[6] Obama reiterated his call for Congress to extend the payroll tax cut through the end of the year, a benefit to working-class families, urged Congress in his speech to make college more affordable and warned colleges and universities that they risk losing federal funding if they do not keep tuition costs down.

",[10] while the Washington Post wrote that Obama would open up new federal land to develop wind farms and solar energy plants to reduce the nation's reliance on foreign oil.