Celebrating Christmas in the White House has been a tradition since 1800. President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams were the first to throw a Christmas party in the president’s official residence, but it was not as we know it today. These were intimate gatherings with family and close officials, not decorations designed for the media spotlight.
Christmas trees in the White House would not appear until the mid-19th century when 14th president Franklin Pierce decorated an evergreen on the White House lawn in 1853. President Benjamin Harrison stepped up the tradition when he brought a tree inside the White House in 1889 and had it lit with candles.
President Calvin Coolidge began the tradition of the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 24, 1923. The tree came from Vermont, the president's home state, and was decorated with about 2,500 electric lights.
Jackie Kennedy began the tradition of themed White House trees in the Blue Room of the White House in 1961. That year she picked characters from the Nutcracker Suite ballet to decorate the evergreen. Jackie Kennedy is pictured here alongside her husband, President John F. Kennedy.
Lady Bird Johnson decorated the official Blue Room Christmas tree with gingerbread cookies in the form of Santa Claus, snowmen and dolls in 1965 for their "Early American" theme.
First Lady Betty Ford outside the White House upon the arrival of the Ford Blue Room Christmas tree in 1974. The National Christmas Tree Association has been responsible for providing the tree to the President and first family since 1966.
The tree under President Gerald Ford in 1975 had an old-fashioned children's theme. It was covered in handmade ornaments from the previous year—their first year in the White House. They were made by Appalachian women and senior citizens across the nation, highlighting their craft as well as money-saving practices as the nation recovered from the 1973 energy crisis.
First Lady Rosalynn Carter highlighted the religious roots of Christmas by adding a nativity scene to the White House decorations in 1978.
Decorating the Blue Room tree involves more than the first family. Staff come together during the holiday season to pitch in. Here, Nancy Reagan is shown helping set up the tree in 1982.
President Ronald Reagan joined in on the fun by suiting up as Santa Claus for a Christmas Eve party in 1983.
First Lady Nancy Reagan is shown sitting on the lap of Mr. T dressed as Santa Claus during the White House Christmas decoration tour in 1983. The unlikely duo teamed up as a part of the first lady's anti-drug program "Just Say No" during the War on Drugs.
In a cherrypicker, First Lady Barbara Bush holds her grandson, Walker Bush, as she and American banking executive Joseph H. Riley place a star ornament atop of the National Christmas Tree in 1992.
Here, Socks the cat from the Clinton family is seated next to a gingerbread replica of the White House created in 1993. The official gingerbread house has graced the State Dining Room since the 1970s and is always displayed on the 1902 mahogany eagle console table in front of a gilded pier mirror.
Socks even got his own Christmas stocking that year.
Pictured here is a display from President Bill Clinton's 2000 theme "Holiday Reflections." It included needlepoint stockings hung on the fireplace in the Diplomatic Reception Room. A few years prior, the Clinton administration broke previous decorating records in 1997 when they included 36 trees in their "Santa's Workshop" theme.
For many years in office, the Obama's paid tribute to American troops and their families with their Christmas tree. In 2013, First Lady Michelle Obama chose the theme "Gather Around: Stories of the Season," which incorporated greeting cards from military families around the country.
First Lady Melania Trump titled the 2018 White House Christmas theme "American Treasures." More than 40 blood-red topiary trees lined the East colonnade as part of the holiday decorations.
The White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room. For Christmas 2021, First Lady Jill Biden chose the theme "Gifts from the Heart," with a focus on "things that unite and heal, and bring us together."
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Throughout the 19th century Christmas trees were often only put up if there were families around, specifically young children or grandchildren, to get into the Christmas spirit. Theodore Roosevelt, a well-known conservationist, was against the idea of cutting down a tree for the holidays, although his 8-year-old son once got a tree and had it "rigged up" inside a large closet in the White House, according to a letter that Roosevelt wrote on December 26, 1902.
In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge hosted the first National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. This tradition has persisted every year since, although in 1963 the ceremony was delayed several days due to a 30-day period of mourning following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Jackie Kennedy began the tradition of installing themed Christmas trees in the White House's iconic Blue Room in 1961. That year, she picked characters from the Nutcracker Suite ballet to adorn her tree. Five years later, it was established that the National Christmas Tree Association would provide Christmas trees to U.S. Presidents and their families.
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