The State of the Union address has been televised since Harry Truman was president. “What we do or fail to do at home affects not only ourselves, but millions throughout the world.” But it was Ronald Reagan who understood how to make the event appeal to a wider audience. His secret weapon: Lenny Skutnik. On a freezing January day in 1982, Lenny Skutnik dived into the Potomac River to save a survivor of a plane crash. Television cameras immortalized the heroic act. About a month later, Skutnik sat in Congress next to the first lady and Reagan pointed him out for those watching his State of the Union address from home. “Just two weeks ago, in the midst of a terrible tragedy on the Potomac, we saw again, the spirit of American heroism at its finest.” Skutnik was an everyman. People could relate to him. And his dramatic rescue also satisfied America’s hunger for storytelling. His fame soon faded, but his legacy endures. Reagan successors continue to invite unsung heroes to their addresses. These special guests, often called ‘Lenny Skutniks,’ have ranged from civil rights advocates ... “When a woman named Rosa Parks sat down on a bus in Alabama.” ... to everyday heroes. “Jackie Bray is a single mom from North Carolina who was laid off from her job as a mechanic.” But in recent years guests have taken a more partisan role like former Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai in 2002. Or an empty seat left for victims of gun violence in 2016. As with most things in Washington, who will be invited is steeped in politics as presidents sometimes use guests as symbols of their own policies.