The State of the Union was described, among other things, as “political theatre” early on  in the evening. President Obama walked in, greeting bureaucrats and as @bennyjohnson put it on his Twitter, “kiss[ing] more people in a 5 minute period than I have in] my entire life.” After weaving his way through a long line of people, Obama finally came to rest behind a podium, framed by Vice President Joe Biden to his left and Speaker of the House John Boehner to his right.

Obama’s speech opened with small paradigms showcasing the image of hardworking Americans. This was followed by a phrase he reiterated throughout the entirety of his address, “American does not stand still – and neither will I.” This set the tone for the laundry list of issues he would address in a pragmatic and to-the-point manner.

One of the main focuses of Obama’s speech lay in his desire to “offer…a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class.” A key component of this was the current minimum wage. After underlining his disdain for the current wage, he pledged to “issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally-funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour.” The proposal was greeted by clapping from some State of the Union attendees.

In addition to focusing on purely domestic problems, President Obama dabbled in a discussion on current United States foreign policy. This included his declaration that, “after 2014 [the United States] will support a unified Afghanistan as it takes responsibility for its own future.” His discussion on overseas conflict extended to terrorism, and he asserted, in the context of terrorism, “the fact is that danger remains.”

Perhaps the most unique part of the evening was the President’s recognition of First Class Sergeant Cory Remsburg. A man who had served ten tours, Sergeant Remsburg was “nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan…on his tenth deployment.” This recognition was followed by thunderous applause. All in attendance were on their feet, overcome with gratitude for the man before them. It presented an image of unity within the room – a unity that had not been seen until this point in the evening.

All in all the President’s speech worked to touch on a number of issues that hit close to home for many Americans: discussions of equal pay for women, immigration policy, a desire to expand the middle class, and a hope to better improve the health care system among many other issues.

In the word’s of Obama’s State of the Union address, “God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.”