Tag Archive for "nancy reagan" - White House Historical Association Press Room

Celebrating the Fourth of July at the White House

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

President and Mrs. Reagan enjoyed a picnic on the South Lawn for the fourth of July in 1981. Courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Library.

President Thomas Jefferson established the tradition of a Fourth of July celebration at the White House in 1801 by welcoming the public to the house for a reception while the Marine Band performed “The President’s March” and other “patriotic airs” in the Entrance Hall. Tables pushed against the walls of the State Dining Room were filled with bowls of punch and plates of sweets.

Presidents held these receptions until just after the Civil War when Ulysses S. Grant started a new trend by taking a summer vacation at the New Jersey seashore away from the Washington heat. Although a Fourth of July public reception is no longer held, presidents and their families continue to observe a day of patriotism at the White House in whatever manner they deem appropriate.

Learn more about the history of Independence Day celebrations at the White House, and view a slideshow of historic July 4th photographs in advance of the upcoming holiday.

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Tags: fourth of july, holidays, independence day, nancy reagan, photos, ronald reagan, thomas jefferson

New Flickr Slideshow: Reagan’s 2nd Inauguration

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Because the beginning of President Reagan’s and Vice President George H.W. Bush’s second terms, January 20, 1985, fell on a Sunday, President Reagan and Vice President Bush were sworn in for their new terms at the foot of the Grand Staircase in the Entrance Hall of the White House. The following day, intense cold caused the previously scheduled public inaugural ceremony to be moved from the West Front of the U.S. Capitol indoors to the Capitol Rotunda, while the inaugural parade was canceled. (William Howard Taft’s inaugural 76 years before had also taken place in the Capitol because of harsh weather.)