Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives, Gift of Mary Shaheen
Object Details
Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino is one of the few women who have addressed a Joint Session of Congress as a foreign head of state. The practice of foreign dignitaries speaking to the House began with French aristocrat and Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette in 1824. The first Philippine president to do so was former House Member Manuel Quezon in 1942.
