Collection The Nixon White House 1969 - 1974
On January 20, 1969, Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the thirty-seventh president of the United States. During his time in the White...
Main Content
An International Christmas Gathering
WASHINGTON, Friday—Last night we had a rather large gathering of various family groups at Christmas dinner. The number of cousins was really quite amusing. I think the complications of family relationships, as regards my husband and myself, became completely baffling to our English guests. I tried to explain to Lord Beaverbrook,1 what relation my husband is to Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson,2 and I think at the end he was as mystified as if I had never attempted an explanation!
When you tell some one, that the lovely lady sitting opposite him is your husband's half-niece, that she married your first cousin, and that he was her sixth cousin, whereas you are married to your fifth cousin once removed, and are also her sixth cousin and that her children, in order to simplify life, say "Uncle Franklin and Auntie Eleanor," when the relationship is really only that of a half great—uncle;3 you may well imagine that you have led anyone, no matter how great his interest in genealogy through a maze from which there is no emerging!
Field Marshal Sir John Dill,4 celebrated his birthday as well as Christmas here last night. I wish I had known sooner, for I would certainly have provided him with a birthday cake.
A few old friends were here with us as usual, and we drank the usual toasts to absent family and friends, adding one toast in tribute to our British guests. After dinner, we had newsreels, featuring both the Prime Minister5 and the President, and then sang some Christmas carols together before saying goodnight and letting the President, the Prime Minister and Lord Beaverbrook go back to work again.
I was a little late at the office this morning on purpose. My office force, however, was all there ahead of me. So many people left Washington for the weekend, that there was comparatively little to do.
After clearing up the mail and seeing one or two members of the staff, I listened on the radio to the Prime Minister's speech in the Senate, and then came home to a late luncheon. I am planning to devote the afternoon to telling some of the kind people who sent me Christmas gifts how much I am enjoying them.
It will be quite impossible for me, of course, to thank the many people who have sent the President and me Christmas cards and telegrams, but I want to say here how grateful we are for their thoughts & the confidence and affection which so many of them expressed.
E.R.
Copyright, 1941, by United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
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...
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....
While there has yet to be a female president, women have played an integral role in shaping the White House...
Today, the celebration of Halloween conjures images of costumed trick-or-treaters, sweets, and jack-o'-lanterns; but there was a time when All...
For the 2015 holiday season, the White House Historical Association has paired with HGTV Star Genevieve Gorder to bring you our 2015...
Thanksgiving is a relatively quiet and personal holiday at the White House, as it precedes a very busy season of...
The White House Historical Association and the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project present this collaboration in an effort to open a...
Since 1878, American presidents and their families have celebrated Easter Monday by hosting an "egg roll" party. Held on the South...
It was President Thomas Jefferson who first established the traditions of a Fourth of July celebration at the White House....