December means homes across America are decking the halls, and the White House is no exception.
Ever since President John Adams and first lady Abigail Adams hosted the first White House Christmas party in 1800, first families have partaken in festive holiday traditions while in office.
First ladies have traditionally chosen a theme for the White House Christmas decorations and overseen the planning process, a practice that began with Jacqueline Kennedy.
This year, first lady Melania Trump decorated the White House around the theme “Home Is Where The Heart Is” in a scaled-back display following the demolition of the East Wing in October.
Take a look at how the occupants of the White House have celebrated Christmas through the years.
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.
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.
Every president has brought their own traditions into the White House.
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.
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.
Over 6,000 people attended the first National Christmas Tree lighting.
The president’s participation in the tree lighting ceremony has been a yearly tradition since then.
This year’s National Christmas Tree lighting will air on Great American Family on December 5, a day after the live event.
Glowing trees lit up the North Portico of the White House in 1931.
A Christmas wreath also glowed above the door.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt spent 10 consecutive Christmas holidays in the White House throughout his four terms.
The East Room featured a Christmas tree decorated with string lights and tinsel.
Roosevelt invited four generations of family into the White House for Christmas.
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.
Children joined Roosevelt at the White House to ring in Christmas with carols in 1940.
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.
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 North Portico featured two lit Christmas trees.
Eisenhower’s family also took a Christmas Eve picture in front of a tinsel-covered tree.
The Eisenhowers had two children, Doud Dwight, nicknamed “Icky,” and John.
First lady Jacqueline Kennedy began the tradition of themed White House Christmas decorations.
In 1961, decorations themed around Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” took over the Blue Room, enthralling first daughter Caroline Kennedy.
In 1962, the White House Christmas tree was decorated with ornaments inspired by children, including candy canes and gingerbread cookies.
The tree also reused many of the Nutcracker ornaments from the previous year.
A holiday banner was hung for the annual Christmas Pageant of Peace on the White House Ellipse in 1963.
Flags were ordered to fly half-mast through December, mourning the death of Kennedy in November.
The Johnson family’s White House Christmas decorations included a 5-foot red, green, and gold piñata in 1964.
Piñatas are a traditional holiday ornament in Latin American countries.
In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson and first lady Lady Bird Johnson’s dog Yuki sniffed their Christmas tree in the Yellow Oval Room.
The Johnsons piled presents underneath the Norway spruce.
Christmas in the Nixon White House was a lively affair.
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.
President Gerald Ford attended the White House Christmas in 1975 with his wife, first lady Betty Ford, and his daughter, Susan Ford.
The theme of the White House Christmas decor that year was “Old Fashioned Children’s Christmas.”
First lady Betty Ford presented the official White House Christmas tree in 1976.
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.
In 1983, the Reagans decorated their tree with ornaments made by two South Korean children they brought to the US on Air Force One for heart surgery.
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.”
For their White House Christmas card, the Reagans commissioned artists to paint holiday scenes from inside the Executive Mansion.
The tradition of sending White House holiday cards dates back to 1927.
The Reagans also incorporated pop culture into their playful decorations.
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.
Bush was joined by Joseph Riley, president of the Christmas Pageant of Peace committee.
When the Bushes became occupants of the White House themselves, Christmas was a family affair.
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.
Bush also spent Christmas at Camp David during his son George W. Bush’s presidency, The Washington Times reported.
The Clinton White House had plenty of edible decorations each year.
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.
In 1994, Hillary Clinton decorated the White House around the theme “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
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.
In 2001, President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush read books to local schoolchildren surrounded by Christmas trees decorated with lights and fake snow.
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.
Laura Bush chose a “Red, White and Blue Christmas” theme for their final Christmas in the White House.
The patriotic theme was inspired by letters the president and first lady received following the September 11 attacks.
In 2009, first lady Michelle Obama decorated the White House around the theme “Reflect, Rejoice, Renew.”
Christmas trees on the State Floor shone with lights and ribbons.
In 2011, she chose the theme “Shine, Give, Share.”
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.
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.
Not everyone was a fan of Melania Trump‘s ghostly white branches in the East Colonnade, which sparked a series of memes.
Melania Trump’s crimson topiary trees, part of the 2018 theme “American Treasures,” also garnered criticism.
“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.”
She opted for a more traditional approach with her 2019 decorations, which had the theme “The Spirit of America.”
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 2020, Melania Trump went with the theme “America The Beautiful,” offering a “tribute to the majesty of our great Nation.”
Small details throughout honored themes like 100 years of the 19th Amendment and wildlife in the US.
In 2021, first lady Jill Biden chose the theme “Gifts from the Heart” for the White House Christmas decorations.
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.”
Christmas trees in the State Dining Room featured photos of the Bidens, as well as past presidential families.
Presidents Donald Trump, Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were pictured with their families.
In the East Colonnade, clear blue circles and dove-shaped cutouts lined the windows, and glowing stars dangled from the ceiling.
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.
Wreaths in the China Room featured stars comprised of interlocking hands.
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 Grand Foyer and the Cross Hall decorations centered on the “Gift of Faith and Community.”
“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.
The theme of the 2022 White House Christmas decorations was “We the People.”
“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.”
Wintry trees and white lanterns lined the East Colonnade.
The decorations were meant to evoke “the feelings of peace and tranquility after the first snowfall,” according to the 2022 White House Holiday Guide.
Renderings of White House pets Commander and Willow were shown enjoying holiday gifts in the Vermeil Room.
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.
In keeping with the “We the People” theme, the gingerbread White House also featured a gingerbread model of Independence Hall.
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 Bidens also added the first-ever menorah to the White House Christmas decorations in 2022.
The menorah was created with leftover wood from a Truman-era White House renovation and added to the White House’s permanent collection.
In 2023, Jill Biden chose the theme “Magic, Wonder, and Joy.”
The theme was a tribute to “how children experience this festive season,” according to the 2023 White House Holiday Guide.
The decorations featured nods to candy, Advent calendars, Santa Claus, and other nostalgic childhood holiday traditions.
Santa’s sleigh, pulled by reindeer, stretched across the Grand Foyer of the White House.
For the Bidens’ final Christmas as president and first lady, Jill Biden decorated the White House around the theme “A Season of Peace and Light.”
“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.
White dove cutouts were featured in the Cross Hall and the Red Room, symbolizing peace.
The ceiling decorations were also intended to evoke falling snow.
In 2025, Melania Trump returned to the White House and offered a scaled-back Christmas display after the demolition of the East Wing.
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 Official White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room featured AI-generated and 3D printed ornaments.
The ornaments were decorated with the official bird and flower of every US state and territory.
The Red Room contained 10,000 butterfly cutouts.
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.
Unlike in past years, the White House Christmas display did not include the China Room, the Vermeil Room, or the White House Library.
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.
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