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42 photos that show how the White House has celebrated Christmas through the years
bySam-
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The Cross Hall of the White House.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
December means homes across America are decking the halls, and the White House is no exception.
John and Abigail Adams began the tradition with the first White House Christmas party in 1800.
Jill Biden unveiled this year's White House Christmas decorations, themed "Gifts from the Heart."
The White House halls have been decked for the holidays every December since John and Abigail Adams held the first White House Christmas party in 1800.
Installing the wreath at the White House entrance in 1937.
Calvin Coolidge was the first president to host a public Christmas celebration at the White House, with the first National Christmas Tree lighting in 1923.
President Calvin Coolidge at the National Christmas Tree lighting.
Library of Congress
Over 6,000 people attended the first National Christmas Tree lighting.
The tree lighting ceremony and the president's participation has been a yearly tradition since then.
The 1929 National Christmas Tree.
Glowing trees lit up a side entrance to the White House in 1931.
Christmas trees at the White House in 1931.
AP
A Christmas wreath also glowed above the door.
Franklin Roosevelt spent 10 consecutive Christmas holidays in the White House and emphasized the importance of family during the holiday season.
The tree in the East Room during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936.
Library of Congress
The East Room featured a Christmas tree decorated with string lights and tinsel.
FDR invited four generations of family into the White House for Christmas.
FDR with two of his grandchildren on Christmas in 1939.
Children joined Roosevelt at the White House to ring in Christmas with carols in 1940.
Children sing Christmas carols with FDR in 1940.
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
First lady Eleanor Roosevelt also invited Girl Scouts to sing carols with her in the East Room in 1936.
President Harry Truman welcomed some unusual guests to the White House in December 1948 when he was gifted turkeys for his Christmas dinner.
President Truman inspects turkeys gifted to him in 1948.
William J. Smith/AP
The turkeys were gifted to him by the Poultry and Egg National Board and the National Turkey Federation.
President Dwight Eisenhower and first lady Mamie Eisenhower posed with their family in 1958 on the North Portico of the White House.
The Eisenhowers on Christmas in 1958.
Bill Allen/File/AP
The North Portico featured two lit Christmas trees.
Eisenhower's first family also posed for a Christmas Eve picture in front of a tinsel-covered tree.
The Eisenhowers celebrate Christmas at the White House.
Ed Clark/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
The Eisenhowers had two children, Doud Dwight (nicknamed "Icky") and John.
First lady Jacqueline Kennedy began the tradition of themed White House decorations with Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" taking over the Blue Room in 1961.
Caroline Kennedy in 1961.
Henry Burroughs/File/AP
First daughter Caroline admired the tree before a party for employees.
In 1962, the White House Christmas tree was decorated with ornaments inspired by children, including candy canes and gingerbread cookies.
President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962.
Despite Jackie's decorating efforts, the Kennedy family chose to celebrate Christmas Day in Palm Beach.
The Kennedys on Christmas in 1962 in Palm Beach, Florida.
John F. Kennedy Library
They spent Christmas at the home of financier C. Michael Paul.
A banner with a holiday sentiment was hung for the annual Christmas Pageant of Peace on the Ellipse, in front of the White House, in 1963.
A banner reading "Peace on earth to men of goodwill" hangs outside the White House in 1963.
Henry Burroughs/AP
Flags were ordered to fly half-mast through December, mourning the November death of President Kennedy.
The Johnson family included a 5-foot red, green, and gold piñata in the main hall.
A piñata hangs in the White House for Christmas in 1964.
In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson and first lady Lady Bird Johnson's dog Yuki sniffed their decorated Christmas tree.
The Johnsons on Christmas in 1967.
File/AP
The Johnsons piled presents underneath the Norway spruce.
Christmas in the Nixon White House was a lively affair.
President Nixon and his family pose in front of the Christmas Tree in the Blue Room.
Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images
First lady Pat Nixon told Empire Magazine their holiday traditions included the president playing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" on the piano for friends and family.
Another Nixon tradition was to decorate their Christmas trees with decorations made by disabled workers.
President Gerald Ford brought two dates to the White House Christmas ball in 1975: his wife, Betty, and his daughter, Susan.
President Gerald Ford with his wife and daughter in 1975.
First lady Betty Ford presented the official White House Christmas tree in 1976.
First lady Betty Ford in front of the White House Christmas tree in 1976.
CT/AP
At that year's lighting, President Ford said that as a former National Parks ranger he was proud to have real trees throughout the White House.
In 1983, the Reagans decorated their Christmas tree with ornaments made by two South Korean children they brought to the US on Air Force One for heart surgery.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan decorate a Christmas tree at the White House in 1983.
Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images
One of the children, Brett Halvorson, reunited with Nancy Reagan in 2007.
"As I was only 4 years old, my memory of Mrs. Reagan is very vague," Halvorson, told ABC News in 2016. "But what I do remember is that I felt comfort and love from a woman that was a complete stranger."
The Reagans commissioned artists to paint scenes from inside the Executive Mansion during the holiday season for their annual Christmas card.
The Reagans decorate a Christmas tree at the White House.
AP
Many presidents, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and both George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, have since followed suit.
The Reagan White House incorporated pop culture into their playful decorations.
Nancy Reagan with ALF in 1987.
AP
Nancy Reagan shared a moment with ALF during a children's Christmas party at the White House in 1987.
In 1984, then-second lady Barbara Bush helped place the star on top of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse.
Barbara Bush places an ornament on top of the National Christmas Tree in 1984.
Ron Edwards/AP
Bush was joined by Joseph Riley, president of the Christmas Pageant of Peace committee.
When the Bushes became White House occupants themselves, Christmas was a family affair.
George H.W. Bush reads to his grandchildren on Christmas Eve in 1991.
Susan Biddle/Keystone/CNP/Getty Images
George H.W. Bush's grandchildren were treated to a story when they spent Christmas Eve at the White House in 1991.
President George Bush celebrated all four of his Christmases as president at Camp David.
George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush in front of a Christmas tree at the White House.
The Clinton White House had plenty of edible decorations each year.
Hillary Clinton and executive pastry chef Roland Mesnier pose with the 1993 White House gingerbread house that was dubbed the "House of Socks" in honor of the Clintons' cat.
AP
Over the course of several years, the Clintons enjoyed gingerbread house versions of the Washington Monument, Mount Vernon, and even a replica of Hillary's childhood home.
In 1994, Hillary Clinton decorated the White House around the theme "The Twelve Days of Christmas."
Hillary Clinton shows off ornaments on the White House Christmas tree in 1994.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
The ornaments on the National Christmas Tree were designed by schoolchildren across the US and the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters, The New York Times reported.
In 2001, George W. and Laura Bush read books to local schoolchildren surrounded by Christmas trees decorated with lights and fake snow.
Laura Bush and George W. Bush read stories to schoolchildren in 2001.
Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
The president and first lady hosted students from Hoffman-Boston Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, which American Airlines Flight 77 flew over before it crashed into the Pentagon on September 11.
First lady Laura Bush chose a "Red, White and Blue Christmas" theme for their final Christmas in the White House.
The official White House Christmas tree in 2008.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
The patriotic theme was inspired by letters the president and first lady received after September 11.
In 2009, first lady Michelle Obama decorated the White House around the theme "Reflect Rejoice Renew."
Christmas trees on the State Floor in 2009.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Christmas trees on the State Floor shone with lights and ribbons.
In 2011, she chose the theme "Shine, Give, Share."
Gold stars and ribbon hang from the ceiling of the hallway on the ground floor of the White House in 2011.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
In keeping with the "Shine" element, gold star decorations adorned the hallway on the White House's ground floor.
For the Obamas' last year in the White House, larger-than-life replicas of their dogs Bo and Sunny added a playful and personal touch to the decorations.
Replicas of Bo and Sunny in the East Wing as part of the 2016 holiday decor at the White House.
Andrew Harnik/AP
The replicas were made with over 25,000 yarn pom-poms.
First lady Melania Trump's non-traditional Christmas decorations in 2017 created a stark scene in the East Wing.
Melania Trump walks through Christmas decorations in the East Wing in 2017.
Trump's crimson topiary trees as part of the 2018 theme "American Treasures" also garnered criticism.
The East Colonnade of the White House decorated for Christmas in 2018.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
"We are in 21st century and everybody has a different taste. I think they look fantastic," Trump said in response to criticism of the decorations. "I hope everybody will come over and visit it. In real life they look even more beautiful and you are all very welcome to visit the White House, the people's house."
Trump kept things more traditional for the 2019 decorations with the theme of "The Spirit of America."
Christmas decorations on display in the Grand Foyer at the White House in 2019.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
The Grand Foyer was lit up with green Christmas trees covered in fake snow and white lights that shone overhead to make "a glistening winter garden," the White House said in a release.
In 2020, the White House went with the theme "America The Beautiful," offering a "tribute to the majesty of our great Nation."
The Cross Hall of the White House is decorated for the Christmas season.
Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks
Small details throughout honored themes like 100 years of the 19th amendment and wildlife in the US.
The theme of this year's White House Christmas decorations, chosen by first lady Dr. Jill Biden, is "Gifts from the Heart."
The East Wing entrance of the White House decorated for Christmas in 2021.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden wrote in the 2021 White House Holiday Guide that "Gifts from the Heart" such as faith, family, friendship, and unity "tie together the heart strings of our lives."
Christmas trees in the State Dining Room feature photos of the Bidens, as well as past presidential families.
Christmas trees in the State Dining Room decorated with snapshots of US presidents and their families.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Former presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, and Franklin D. Roosevelt are pictured with their families.
In the East Colonnade, clear blue circles and dove-shaped cutouts line the windows and glowing stars hang from the ceiling.
Doves and shooting stars decorate the East Colonnade of the White House.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
The doves and shooting stars represent "peace and light brought to us all by the service of frontline workers and first responders during the pandemic," according to the White House Holiday Guide.
Wreaths in the China Room feature stars comprised of interlocking hands.
Wreaths of interlocking hands adorn the chairs in the China Room.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The China Room displays tableware and china sets used by past presidential families.
The Grand Foyer and the Cross Hall decorations center around the "Gift of Faith and Community."
The Cross Hall of the White House.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
"The hallway alcoves and tree displays depict wintry scenes of life within our towns and cities, reflecting the solace of faith, the lasting bonds of community, and the perseverance of the American spirit," the White House Holiday Guide reads.