White House Christmas Celebrations Through the Years: Photos

The Adams’ White House Christmas party was held in honor of their 4-year-old granddaughter, Susanna Boylston Adams, according to the White House Historical Association.

Grover Cleveland, for example, lit up the first electric lights on a Christmas tree at the White House to the delight of his young daughters.

Over 6,000 people attended the first National Christmas Tree lighting.

This year’s National Christmas Tree lighting will air on Great American Family on December 5, a day after the live event.

A Christmas wreath also glowed above the door.

The East Room featured a Christmas tree decorated with string lights and tinsel.

Roosevelt’s children and grandchildren enjoyed spending Christmas Eve at the presidential residence, where they would partake in two of his favorite holiday traditions: hanging stockings and reading “A Christmas Carol,” according to the White House Historical Association.

First lady Eleanor Roosevelt also invited Girl Scouts to sing carols with her in the East Room in 1936.

The turkeys were gifted to him by the Poultry and Egg National Board and the National Turkey Federation.

The North Portico featured two lit Christmas trees.

The Eisenhowers had two children, Doud Dwight, nicknamed “Icky,” and John.

In 1961, decorations themed around Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” took over the Blue Room, enthralling first daughter Caroline Kennedy.

The tree also reused many of the Nutcracker ornaments from the previous year.

Flags were ordered to fly half-mast through December, mourning the death of Kennedy in November.

Piñatas are a traditional holiday ornament in Latin American countries.

The Johnsons piled presents underneath the Norway spruce.

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.

The theme of the White House Christmas decor that year was “Old Fashioned Children’s Christmas.”

At that year’s lighting, Gerald Ford said that he was proud to have real trees throughout the White House as a former National Parks ranger, according to the National Park Service.

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 tradition of sending White House holiday cards dates back to 1927.

Nancy Reagan shared a moment with ALF during a children’s Christmas party at the White House in 1987.

Bush was joined by Joseph Riley, president of the Christmas Pageant of Peace committee.

George H.W. Bush’s grandchildren were treated to a story when they spent Christmas Eve at the White House in 1991. 

Bush also spent Christmas at Camp David during his son George W. Bush’s presidency, The Washington Times reported.

Over the course of several years, the Clintons enjoyed gingerbread house versions of the Washington Monument, Mount Vernon, and even a replica of Hillary Clinton’s childhood home.

The ornaments on the Official White House Christmas Tree were designed by schoolchildren across the US and the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters, The New York Times reported.

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, 2001.

The patriotic theme was inspired by letters the president and first lady received following the September 11 attacks.

Christmas trees on the State Floor shone with lights and ribbons.

In keeping with the “Shine” element, gold star decorations adorned the hallway on the White House’s ground floor.

The replicas were made with over 25,000 yarn pom-poms.

Not everyone was a fan of Melania Trump’s ghostly white branches in the East Colonnade, which sparked a series of memes.

“We are in the 21st century and everybody has a different taste. I think they look fantastic,” Melania 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.”

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.

Small details throughout honored themes like 100 years of the 19th Amendment and wildlife in the US.

President Joe Biden and first lady 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.”

Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were pictured with their families.

The doves and shooting stars represented “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.

The China Room displays tableware and china sets used by past presidential families. As part of the 2021 White House Christmas decorations, the Bidens displayed the Obama china.

“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 read.

“For this year’s holidays at the White House, we hope to capture the spirit embodied in the very idea of America: We the People,” the first lady wrote in a welcome letter in the 2022 White House Holiday Guide. “During your visit to the People’s House, through rooms full of history and holiday décor, in the mirrored ornaments and reflective lights, our hope is that you feel at home and find yourself in the great story of America.”

The decorations were meant to evoke “the feelings of peace and tranquility after the first snowfall,” according to the 2022 White House Holiday Guide.

The White House pets were depicted sitting in gift boxes from Operation Gratitude, a non-profit organization that delivers care packages to deployed troops, first responders, and military families.

Located in the State Dining Room, the gingerbread White House took 20 sheets of sugar cookie dough, 30 sheets of gingerbread dough, 30 pounds of chocolate, and 40 pounds of royal icing to construct.

The menorah was created with leftover wood from a Truman-era White House renovation and added to the White House’s permanent collection.

The theme was a tribute to “how children experience this festive season,” according to the 2023 White House Holiday Guide.

Santa’s sleigh, pulled by reindeer, stretched across the Grand Foyer of the White House.

“As we celebrate our final holiday season here in the White House, we are guided by the values we hold sacred: faith, family, service to our country, kindness towards our neighbors, and the power of community and connection,” the Bidens wrote in the 2024 White House Holiday Guide.

The ceiling decorations were also intended to evoke falling snow.

The East Entrance and East Colonnade, once large canvases for White House Christmas decorations, were demolished to make way for Donald Trump’s planned ballroom.

Instead of entering through the East Entrance, tours began at the North Portico.

The ornaments were decorated with the official bird and flower of every US state and territory.

The Red Room’s Christmas tree was adorned with ornaments highlighting Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future program, part of her Be Best campaign focused on children’s wellness.

The East Room featured a patriotic display of red, white, and blue Christmas tree ornaments and golden eagle tree toppers in collaboration with America250 in recognition of America’s semiquincentennial in 2026.

However, the White House Creche that is usually displayed there was undergoing restoration. Only a portion of the Nativity scene, which dates back to the 18th century, was featured in the Grand Foyer.