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Preschool is just one example of the ways in which President Obama says government can play a constructive role in the economy. He's trying to reorient the debate in Washington from deficit reduction alone to wise investment.

What's said and written about a State of the Union address on the morning after can determine what's most remembered. Headline writers have zeroed in on the president's talk about lifting the middle class, getting the economy moving and new gun laws.

In the State of the Union, Obama defends the legality of drone strikes and promises more openness with Congress.

The Florida senator has joined in the joking about his big stretch for a big drink as he was giving the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio delivered the Republican reply to the State of the Union. He needed a drink of water but the bottle was out of reach. While his speech was being broadcast, the senator ducked down, reached off screen, found the bottle, sipped it and resumed. Twitter went crazy.

Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep and NPR reporters give a "close read" of President Obama's State of the Union speech. In some cases they are checking facts. In others, they are asking what some parts of the speech really mean.

There may have been only a half dozen times all night when both sides of the aisle all stood and clapped in approval. One of those moments was when President Obama called for overhauling immigration.

President Obama called repeatedly on Congress to address issues of paramount importance to the country during his State of the Union address Tuesday. But he also made it clear that when Congress fails to act or agree with his policies, he intends to push ahead on his own.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, in the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address, strove mightily to transform the perception, cemented during last year's presidential race, that his party's embrace excludes those who aren't rich and white.

Green ribbons were on prominent display at President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, worn in honor of the victims of the Newton, Conn., elementary school shooting.