When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses members of Congress on Wednesday morning, he will be among an elite group of people who have spoken before a gathering of the country’s top lawmakers.
Zelenskyy, who is expected to ask for help in his fight against an invasion by Russian forces, will be among the nearly 120 world leaders to be granted a request to speak before a session of the members of the U.S. House and Senate. He will speak to the Congress virtually from Ukraine.
While Americans are familiar with the country’s president speaking before a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union address, Zelenskyy will be speaking before a joint meeting of Congress, which is a bit different.
A joint meeting takes place when the House and Senate agree to recess and meet with the other chamber.
A joint session takes place when the House and Senate adopt a concurrent resolution to meet to hear a speaker. Joint sessions typically are reserved to hear an address from the president, or to count presidential electoral votes.
Here, from the office of the Historian of the House, are some facts on world leaders who have spoken before the U.S. Congress.
- The Marquis de Lafayette, the French general and Revolutionary War hero, was the first foreign dignitary to address the House of Representatives. He did so on Dec. 10, 1824.
- The first non-head of state to address a joint meeting of Congress was Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa in 1989.
- There have been 12 joint meeting addresses delivered by foreign leaders and dignitaries dating back to King David Kalakaua of Hawaii in 1874.
- Eleven monarchs or members of royal families have addressed joint meetings of Congress.
- Twelve women have addressed joint meetings of Congress. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands was the first. She addressed Congress on April 3, 1952.
- France, Great Britain, and Israel have sent the most leaders or dignitaries to deliver joint meeting addresses, with eight joint meeting addresses by heads of state or dignitaries each.
- Winston Churchill and Benjamin Netanyahu have made more addresses to Congress than anyone else. Churchill addressed joint meetings in 1941, 1943, and 1952; Netanyahu addressed joint meetings in 1996, 2011 and 2015. Nelson Mandela of South Africa has addressed Congress twice, in 1990 and 1994. Yitzhak Rabin of Israel also addressed joint meetings of Congress on two occasions, in 1976 and 1994.
Here are some of the foreign leaders who have addressed Congress:
Dec. 26, 1941: Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom addressed an informal meeting of Congress. It was one of three times he spoke to the U.S. Congress.
May 28, 1954: Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
May 9, 1957: President Ngo Dinh Diem of Vietnam addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
April 12, 1962: Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran, addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
Sept. 15, 1966: President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Philippines addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
Nov. 5, 1975: President Anwar El Sadat of Egypt addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
Feb. 22, 1977: Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau of Canada addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
Feb. 20, 1985: Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of the United Kingdom, addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
June 26, 1990: Nelson Mandela, deputy president of the African National Congress, South Africa, addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
May 16, 1991: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
June 17, 1992: Boris Yeltsin, president of Russia, addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
July 17, 2003: Tony Blair, prime minister of the United Kingdom addressed a joint meeting of Congress.
Sept. 24, 2015: Pope Francis addressed a joint meeting of Congress.