Podcast The History and Making of the Official White House Christmas Ornaments
Since 1981, the White House Historical Association has created the Official White House Christmas Ornament. Collecting and gifting these unique ornaments...
Main Content
The White House observance of Christmas before the twentieth century was not an official event. First families decorated the house modestly with greens and privately celebrated the Yuletide with family and friends. President Calvin Coolidge was the first chief executive to preside over a public celebration during the holidays with the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in 1923. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter lit the menorah at the National Menorah Lighting in Lafayette Square, making him the first president to light a menorah in celebration of Hanukkah at a public ceremony. Since then, the White House has expanded its celebrations of the holidays and sharing the joy of the season with Americans through themed holiday decorations, traditions, and public events.
Christmas with the Trumans, 1945-1953
Christmas with the Eisenhowers, 1953-1961
Since 1981, the White House Historical Association has created the Official White House Christmas Ornament. Collecting and gifting these unique ornaments...
Every year since 1981, the White House Historical Association has had the privilege of designing the Official White House Christmas Ornament....
Every year since 1981, the White House Historical Association has had the privilege of designing the Official White House Christmas Ornament....
On January 20, 1969, Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the thirty-seventh president of the United States. During his time in the White...
On November 22, 1963, about two hours after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the...
Every year since 1981, the White House Historical Association has had the privilege of designing the Official White House Christmas Ornament....
President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s White House helped set the tone for an era of peace, economic prosperity, and technological ad...
Every year since 1981, the White House Historical Association has had the privilege of designing the Official White House Christmas Ornament....
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to office at the height of the Great Depression. He ushered in an environment...
President Harry S. Truman was close to his friends and associates, had a grin for strangers, but could be less...
For more than 60 years, the President of the United States has flown in a helicopter for domestic and international travel....
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the only army general elected president in the twentieth century. His achievements were many — he was an...