America’s eighth president, Martin Van Buren, battled a devastating economic contraction throughout his four-year tenure. There is no record of Van Buren sending White House Christmas cards and very little is written about how America’s first Dutch president and his family celebrated the holiday during those trying times. Van Buren’s most enduring Christmastime contribution is that he chose the color of decor for the White House State Room (which became known as the Blue Room, and has maintained the same hue ever since), where the official Christmas tree would come to be placed and holiday celebrations would be held each year.

Throughout his life and presidency, a number of important and sometimes historic events took place during the Christmas season. Van Buren assumed the governorship of New York one week after Christmas of 1828. As payback for a political feud with Vice President John Calhoun, his appointment as U.S. Minister to Great Britain was overturned by Congress exactly one month after Christmas of 1831. In his First Presidential Address to Congress, at the beginning of the 1837 Holiday season, Van Buren called for the establishment of an independent treasury to combat the deep banking crisis. Then, four days after Christmas, the “Caroline Affair” took place when Canadian troops seized a U.S. steamboat which had been leased to Canadian insurrectionists. One American was killed. A week later, the president issued a proclamation warning U.S. citizens not to assist in the Canadian revolt and dispatching Federal troops to the Maine border. For the next few holiday seasons, no White House Christmas cards were sent to the Queen of England (Canada was still a British colony). Later, one day after his final Christmas in the White House, tensions with Great Britain eased when Alexander McLeod was found not guilty of murder. McLeod, a Canadian, has been arrested in New York for his involvement in the Caroline Affair.

Martin Van Buren was born at the start of the Christmas Season on December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York. His father, Abraham, was a farmer and tavern-keeper. In 1796, Van Buren became an apprentice to lawyer Francis Silvester, and he began his own Kinderhook practice in 1803. In 1807, Van Buren married his cousin, Hannah Hoes, and the couple would have four children. A few years later, he entered public life, serving as a New York State Senator, New York Attorney General, and then U.S. Senator from New York. Hannah died of tuberculosis in 1819 and the heartbroken politician would never remarry. His daughter-in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, would perform the duties of the First Lady when Van Buren was elected to the presidency.

While living in the White House, Martin Van Buren chose the color and decor of the Blue Room, which today houses the official White House Christmas tree during the holiday season.

Philosophically, Van Buren considered himself a disciple of Thomas Jefferson, supporting the doctrine of states’ rights, opposing a strong central government, and voting against most federally-funded internal improvements. After John Quincy Adams’ election in 1824, he, along with several prominent Jeffersonian politicians, founded the Democratic Party. He briefly served as Governor of New York, Secretary of State for Andrew Jackson and Minister to Great Britain.

In 1832, riding a populist wave, Andrew Jackson was elected to the presidency with Van Buren on the ticket as his veep. With a pledge to continue Jackson’s regulatory policies, he was elected to the Presidency in 1836 over three candidates fielded by the fractured Whig Party. Within three months of taking office, the country was in crisis due to the onset of the Panic of 1837. This economic calamity was built on an era of dangerous speculative investing. The bubble burst on May 10, 1837 in New York City, when every bank stopped payment in gold and silver coinage. The Panic was followed by a five-year depression, with the failure of banks and record-high unemployment levels. To combat the crisis, Van Buren came up with a plan to move federal funds from state banks to an “independent treasury.” The plan narrowly passed Congress after a bitter political battle which saw many conservative Democrats defect to the reformed Whig Party. Van Buren’s public standing took another hit due to the long and costly Second Seminole War in Florida, and his refusal to support the annexation of Texas, which he felt would risk war with Mexico and boost pro-slavery forces. In 1839, the Aroostook War, a series of armed clashes between Americans and Canadians along the Maine-New Brunswick border, broke out. General Winfield Scott was sent to restore order and negotiate an official line of demarcation. In an attempt to woo pro-slavery voters, Van Buren sided against the African slaves on trial for their role in the Amistad mutiny. He later established a 10-hour workday limit for all federal public-works projects.

With the country disgruntled after four years of economic strife, Van Buren was soundly defeated in the election of 1840 by the Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison. He ran again for the presidency in 1848 on the Free-Soil (antislavery) ticket, but received less than 10% of the vote. He spent several years in Europe before retiring to his estate, Lindenwald, back in Kinderhook. He died in 1862 at the age of 79.

It should come as no surprise that even though President Barack Obama is the most recent edition to the list of our nation’s leaders, there is already a wealth of information regarding the First Family’s White House Christmas cards, where they spend the holidays, as well as their other holiday-related activities. Having two young children as members of the family certainly ensures that lots of attention will be paid to the Obamas’ goings-on during Christmastime.

During their first year in the executive mansion, the President and First Lady Michelle Obama’s selection of their White House Christmas card caused some controversy in that there was no mention of the word “Christmas” anywhere on the front or inside of their card. The front of the very stylish, cream-colored card, featuring a gold wreath surrounding a gold presidential coat of arms and containing a maroon border, said “Season’s Greetings,” with “2009” centered below. The inside verse offered good wishes to the Presidential Christmas cards’ recipients: “May your family have a joyous holiday season and a new year blessed with hope and happiness.”

The fact that there was no printing of a biblical passage (as there was on White House Christmas cards for each year sent out by George W. and Laura Bush) nor an artist’s depiction of decorations in one of the rooms in the White House (as on Bill and Hillary Clinton’s selections) certainly brought out the critics. Among those voicing their opinion on the matter was Representative Henry Brown, a Republican from South Carolina, who introduced a resolution calling for the defense of the sacredness of the Christmas holiday. He said, “I believe that sending a Christmas card without referencing a holiday and its purpose limits the Christmas celebration in favor of a more politically correct holiday.” More than 40 Democrats and Republicans co-signed the bill.

A White House spokesperson indicated that certainly no slight was intended and that the Presidential family recognized that many Americans celebrate different holidays at the end of the year and at the beginning of the new year, and the Obamas’ White House Christmas cards reflect that thought. Besides, the Obamas’ holiday cards did not break any new ground; George W. Bush’s distributed White House Christmas cards that did not mention the word “Christmas” either. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has said, “It makes sense for a president of all the people to send out a card…without referring to any one specific religion.”

Little attention was paid to the Christmas cards sent out by the Obama family for the 2006 holidays, just a few months before then Senator Obama announced his candidacy for the highest office in the land. Politicians will oftentimes send out Christmas cards to not only friends and relatives but also to campaigners, to people who in the past may have supported their candidacies financially or otherwise, or business professionals. Lori Bowen Ayre, MLIS, who at the time was head of the Galecia Group, a network of technology professionals, received a Christmas card from her senator that had a great family photo of the four Obamas wishing her “Happy Holidays”. Rather than be offended, she was thrilled with the card, professing, “Just look at that picture! This guy is the perfect candidate. The whole family is appealing, direct and open. I want to be an Obama!” Obviously, there is much more intense scrutiny on the national level when one is president of the United States as opposed to being a senator from the state of Illinois.

Certainly, there could not have been too many differences of opinion regarding the behavior or practices of events in which the First Family participated once the 2009 holiday season arrived. On November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving, Michelle Obama along with First Daughters, Malia and Sasha, accepted delivery of the 18 1/2-foot Douglas fir tree which was to serve as the White House Christmas tree – a practice of begun by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889. This tree, arriving on a horse-drawn carriage, was accompanied by its growers, who were invited into the White House for cookies and apple cider. It was the fourth tree Eric and Gloria Sunback of West Virginia had placed in the White House (the three others were for Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan). The 13-year-old tree was officially unveiled about a week later.

The following day, Michelle and the girls were accompanied by the President, who together counted down to the moment when all four pressed the button that lit the National Christmas tree, an annual tradition. President Obama joked, “I’m technologically challenged and I might not get this right.” The 40-foot Colorado blue spruce’s yellow and red lights shone brightly on the Ellipse, located between the National Mall and the White House. The President indicated that, although the tree’s story was a Christian one, “it represents a tradition…that has come to represent more than any one holiday or religion, but a season of brotherhood and generosity to our fellow citizens.”

As Christmas Day drew closer, President Obama, interviewed by singer Gloria Estefan, explained that Santa Claus would be entering the White House on Christmas Eve using the chimney in the Yellow Room, and that milk and cookies would be there for the red-suited man’s consumption.

On December 22, the First Lady along with Malia and Sasha and the family dog, Bo (sporting a red-and-white collar with sleigh bells attached), paid a Christmas visit to the Children’s National Medical Center, visiting heart and kidney patients. They were then led to the center’s atrium area where Michelle Obama read Twas the Night Before Christmas to a larger group of children. Additionally, Malia and Sasha alternated reading from Snowmen at Night, a children’s picture book.

On the day of Christmas Eve, the First Family boarded Air Force One for the long flight to Hawaii where they would stay in Kailua in a beachfront rental home for a week and a half. The Hawaii visit, an annual tradition for the Obama family, most certainly would bring back fond childhood memories for the man who was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961.

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. was born to Stanley “Ann” Dunham from Kansas and Kenyan Barack Obama, Sr., a foreign student on scholarship. His parents were attending Hawaii State University in 1960 and had met while they were students in the same Russian language class. By 1963, unfortunately, the couple separated and was divorced the following year. Ann Dunham, a woman who travelled the world while working against social norms and was described as “the original feminist,” later married Lolo Suetoro, a manager in the oil business, who moved the family to Jakarta, Indonesia. However, after that second marriage ended, Ann lived again in Hawaii as well as Indonesia before moving back to Kansas, where she died in 1995.

Barack, Sr., whose original plan was to be educated in America and return to his impoverished country to help lead it out of despair, relocated to Harvard University where he earned a PH.D. in Economics. Returning to his homeland of Kenya, he married an American woman and raised two sons, but never achieved his goal of becoming influential in his native land. Falling into financial trouble and having anger issues because of his perceived lack of success, Barack, Sr. became an alcoholic. In 1982, he was involved in a car accident and died.

Due to his evolving family situation, young Barack was able to experience life in vastly different areas of the world. As a young child, he lived with his mother in Hawaii; from the ages of six to ten he resided with his mother and her new husband in Indonesia after which he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. He was known as “Barry” during his grade school years, and graduated from high school in 1979.

It was when Barack was ten that he had his only other childhood contact with his father. It was during a month’s visit in Hawaii for the Christmas holiday that Barack, Sr. presented his son with a basketball as a Christmas present, a gesture which the future president later wrote was responsible for the beginning of his love for the sport. It was also during this visit that father and son had a heated argument over whether young Barack could watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas on television or whether he should go to his room and study. Needless to say, once the altercation had ended, young Barack had missed the show anyway. After Barack, Sr. left Hawaii, he and his son never saw each other again.

As a youngster growing up, the fact that he was the product of a mixed marriage was something that never really occurred to him. He later wrote, “That my father looked nothing like the people around me – that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk – barely registered in my mind.” What he did pick up from his parents, certainly, was intelligence and the will to work hard and to try to succeed. After leaving high school, Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then moved on to major in political science, specializing in international relations at Columbia University, from where he graduated in 1983. After working several years as an editor in New York City, a community organizer in Chicago, and as a consultant for a community development organization, Obama travelled in 1988 first to Europe and then to Kenya to meet his relatives on his father’s side for the first time.

Upon his return later that year, he enrolled in Harvard Law School. During his time at Harvard he served as both editor and then president of the Harvard Law Review. The fact that he was the first black person to hold the highest office of such an esteemed publication earned him national headlines, which in turn led to a publishing contract for a book about race relations. The book became his personal memoir entitled Dreams from My Father, published in 1996. During his summers, he worked as an associate at the law firm of Sidley Austin. It was at the law firm where he met first-year attorney, Michelle Robinson.

A native of Chicago, Michelle had graduated from Princeton University in 1985 and also earned her law degree at Harvard Law School, where she graduated in 1988. At first, Michelle, who was a full-time associate at the law firm and was a notch higher than summer intern Barack, was wary about meeting him. But soon, “I was charmed, and we became instant friends,” Michelle recalled. They soon began dating and Barack “swept me off my feet.” She quickly realized there was much substance to the man. At Christmas, Obama brought Michelle to Honolulu to meet his family. Accepting his proposal after a two-year courtship, the two were married on October 3, 1992 in Chicago.

For more than a decade, Obama worked as a constitutional law professor and senior lecturer and as a law associate. He was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996 and re-elected twice thereafter, in 1998 and 2002. Running for the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 2004, he was chosen to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic convention, an appearance which was instrumental in his capturing 70% of the vote in that November’s election.

On February 10, 2007, Barack Obama announced that he was to be a Democratic candidate for President of the United States. Announcing his decision at the same place Abraham Lincoln delivered his “House Divided” speech 149 years before – in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois – Obama talked about the issues he felt were important: the Iraq war, dependency on foreign oil, overcrowded schools, and the high cost of health care. After an initially close primary campaign against Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama gained the lead in delegates and was declared the presumptive nominee on June 3, 2008. At the convention in August, he selected Joe Biden of Delaware as his vice presidential nominee. The general election against the Republican nominee, Arizona’s Senator John McCain and his relatively unknown vice president nominee, Sarah Palin of Alaska, ended with a Democratic Party victory by an Electoral College margin of 365 to 173. Indeed, it would be an extremely happy 2008 Christmas holiday for the Obama family!

Following his inauguration as the President of the United States on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama would face many important challenges, especially during his first year in office: fixing an economy in the throes of a recession, winding down U.S. presence in Iraq while increasing troop strength in Afghanistan and reforming health care are among the many issues. His performance, and eventually how history will judge Barack Obama, is to be determined only after his administration ends and time passes. One thing is certain…as the first African American man elected United States president; he has a unique opportunity to positively influence the importance that relationships between different kinds of people can have on each other – like having the Christmas spirit all year long.

During his unfocused early adulthood, few would have predicted that George Walker Bush would ever find himself in a position to send White House Christmas cards. Born in New Haven, Connecticut on July 6, 1946 and raised mainly in Midland and Houston, Texas, the diplomat’s son went on to earn a B.A. in History from Yale University in 1968, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1975. In the intervening years, he spent time in the Texas Air National Guard, where he flew F-102 fighter planes. In 1977 he married Laura Welch, a librarian and schoolteacher, and the couple would have two children, fraternal twins Barbara and Jenna.

After an unsuccessful congressional bid in 1978 and with the help of family connections, Bush entered the oil business. He helped found two small, independent oil exploration companies which were later taken over by large conglomerates after a decline in oil prices. Around the time of his 40th birthday, the wayward Bush gave up alcohol, turned to his Methodist faith, and described himself as a born-again Christian. He gained further political experience by working on his father’s successful 1988 presidential campaign and became managing general partner of baseball’s Texas Rangers in 1989. In 1994 he was elected governor of Texas, where he cut taxes and won a landslide re-election in 1998. In 2000, he won the Republican presidential nomination over John McCain. In the infamous general election, Bush lost the popular vote to incumbent Vice President Al Gore by 544,000. The state of Florida would determine who would win the Electoral College and become president. In the original tally, Bush had won the state by just over 1,700 votes, triggering an automatic recount. He was declared the winner of the Electoral College on December 9 when the U.S. Supreme Court stopped the count of disputed ballots with his lead down to just 537 votes.

For their first Christmas in the White House, First Lady Laura Bush enlisted the help of Hallmark Cards and classically-trained Texas artist Adrian Martinez to paint a White House-themed Presidential Christmas card. As a child who grew up only seven blocks from the White House, Martinez was intimately familiar with the exterior of the Executive Mansion. For the official card, he decided to paint an interior scene, which he felt would better exude a feeling of warmth. Impressed with an elegantly decorated corridor in the First Family’s private residence, he made a couple of sketches of the serene setting and sent them to the White House.

Martinez later learned that the White House decorations for that year would be white, gold, and silver. He then changed the color of the packages in his painting to reflect the holiday colors and included a Chinese porcelain lamp and a section of the 1908 Mary Cassatt painting, Young Mother and Two Children, in his sketch. He also included an English Regency chair next to a Chinese Chippendale side table, and enlarged the wall-mounted gilded Eagle wooden sconce to give balance to the scene. He adjusted the colors of some of the components for the best visual effect. According to Martinez, the painting was meant to evoke “the power and strength of the First Family, of this country and of our times… In the painting, I tried to convey a serene, contemplative, reflective self-confidence. To me, that is power – real power.” The finished work gave him “a great sense of accomplishment.” Mrs. Bush was thrilled with the results, commenting “I wanted an elegant card. I didn’t realize just how elegant it would be.”

After an eight-year hiatus, Hallmark returned to the Presidential Christmas cards arena for the 34th time. Produced at the company’s Lenexa, Kansas plant, the scripture which would appear on the insert was replaced with Psalm 27:3 at the behest of the First Lady after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Psalm read, “Though a host should encamp against me, I shall not fear; though war shall rise against me, in this I will be confident.” Also included inside the White House Christmas cards above the holiday greeting were verses 8 and 13 from the same Psalm reading, “Thy face, Lord, do I seek” and “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!” The greeting itself read, “May happiness be yours during this season of goodwill and may the New Year bring peace on Earth. 2001.” Hallmark printed a record 870,000 presidential Christmas cards and 4,500 gift prints featuring the same design.

For the 2002 White House Christmas cards, Mrs. Bush selected Chinese-born artist Zhen-Huan Lu to create the artwork. Lu’s style combined European realism, French impressionism and traditional Chinese painting. Mr. Lu snapped 200 photographs in the White House and surrounding gardens in search of an ideal subject. In the Grand Foyer, the artist came upon a beautiful antique Steinway piano. Moving the piano in front of a sunlit window, Lu knew he had found his subject. He felt the scene evoked a “very romantic feeling and would be beautiful to paint.” Said Lu of the 1938 concert grand and its Honduran mahogany case, “I liked the eagles that made up the piano legs because they symbolized the spirit and patriotism of the country, especially after 9/11.” Part of the room’s gilded pier table and the delicately carved English mirror above it were added to the scene along with a basket of holiday poinsettias.

On September 20, a meeting which included Hallmark and the artist was held at the White House to make sure the intricate painting was reproduced with proper color hues. Proof sets of the composition were then shipped back and forth from Hallmark to Lu until he was satisfied with the final product. The Presidential Christmas cards design was entitled 1938 Steinway Piano in the Grand Foyer, The White House 2002. As would become custom, the Bushes included a scripture verse in their White House Christmas cards. For 2002, it was Psalm 100, verse 5: “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” The Christmas cads were also imprinted with the following greeting: “May love and peace fill your heart and home during this holiday season and throughout the new year. 2002.” A record 1.15 million individuals received the official 2002 White House Christmas cards. The ever-expanding list included heads of state, American ambassadors abroad, members of Congress, cabinet members, members of the Republican National Committee, and state Republican parties, supporters, volunteers, and friends.

The following year, the First Family chose watercolor artist Barbara Ernst Prey to compose their White House Christmas cards. The Oyster Bay, New York artist was considered one of the foremost active landscape artists in the country. Prey commented on being selected, “It was overwhelming to realize that you are going to be working on a commission that will be sent to all the leaders of the free world.” Of the First Lady, she said, “I have painted for over 30 years and have done many commissions in my life, but she was the easiest to work with. Mrs. Bush respects the creative process and gives the artist space.”

At first, a nighttime exterior backdrop was planned for the 2003 Presidential Christmas cards design. However, since several recent administrations had done the same, Mrs. Bush and the artist instead decided to focus on an interior scene, and narrowed their choices down to five rooms which Prey then sketched. So enamored with her work was the First Lady that she used her sketches of the Blue Room and the State Dining Room for party invitations later that year. For the White House Christmas cards, she selected a rendering of the Diplomatic Reception Room, featuring a lit fireplace flanked by a pair of Federal-style wingback armchairs upholstered in a rich golden fabric. On the mantel stood a fruit-studded holiday garland while a bowl of apples sat on a small tripod table next to one chair. George Washington, as portrayed by Gilbert Stuart, gazed down upon the scene from above the mantel. The room’s walls, adorned in panoramic “Views of North America” wallpaper with a vast array of colors, presented an ideal opportunity for the talented watercolorist. Mrs. Bush commented on the final product, “It really is a beautiful fireside that shows the friendliness and warmth of sitting with a friend or sitting in a chair reading by yourself.”

On November 28, 1.5 million of the official White House Christmas cards were mailed to friends and dignitaries alike. The scripture verse included was from Job 10:12: “You have granted me life and loving kindness, and your care has preserved my spirit.” The greeting read, “May you celebrate the joys of faith, family and friendship this holiday season and always. 2003.” More than 8,000 gift prints were also produced by Hallmark.

2004 was an election year. During the bruising campaign, President Bush and First Lady chose a 2003 painting of the White House’s Red Room composed by self-taught Texas artist Lori Holt as the artwork for their Presidential Christmas cards. Ms. Holt had previously produced a different tableau for then-governor Bush’s 1998 official Christmas cards. After unsuccessfully searching for an artist for months, Mrs. Bush viewed Holt’s existing painting online and found it to be “the perfect room for a Christmas card.”

Ms. Holt was contacted in June and asked if she could make a few modifications to the painting. The main alteration was changing the painting from a horizontal to a vertical orientation. In addition, the room’s doors were left slightly ajar, a music stand with a carved lyre design was added, as was the room’s traditional cranberry tree (in keeping with the Christmas theme). Unlike Red Room-themed White House Christmas cards designed for previous administrations, the chamber’s French Savonnerie rug was focused on in detail. In highlighting a musical theme, the Scripture verse chosen was Psalm 95:2: “Let us come before Him with Thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.” The greeting read, “May songs of joy fill your home with warmth and your heart with happiness this holiday season. 2004.” To celebrate President Bush’s narrow election victory, the First Family upped their count of official White House Christmas cards to just over 2 million along with 11,000 gift prints.

For 2005, the Bushes chose an artist familiar with the task of creating official Presidential Christmas cards. Pennsylvania artist Jamie Wyeth had previously produced the art for President Reagan’s 1981 and 1984 White House Christmas cards – a nighttime view of the South Portico, and a lone squirrel approaching the North Portico, respectively. Wyeth commented on his White House experience, “I love the White House. To me, it’s the nation’s house. The White House never changes. What changes are the occupants and also their animals.” Wyeth decided to include the Presidential pets in his composition –
dogs Barney and Miss Beazley and cat India.

Featuring a snowy winter scene of the South Lawn, Wyeth chose an angled view of the Truman Balcony flanked by the magnolia tree which had been planted by Andrew Jackson in memory of his wife. Barney and Miss Beazley sat together on the snow-covered lawn, while India scampered off to the left. Hallmark again produced the White House Christmas cards, which included a verse from Psalm 28:7: “The Lord is my strength and my shield; In Him my heart trusts; So I am helped, and my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him.” The greeting that appeared read, “With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness 2005.” A run of 1.28 million Presidential Christmas cards was mailed to recipients in a total of 200 countries, along with 7,400 gift prints.

In 2006, another Texas artist, James Blake, was chosen to design the official White House Christmas cards. Mrs. Bush suggested that the cards feature the Oval Office. Known for his still lifes and landscapes, Blake toured the executive mansion, taking photographs both inside and out. Back in his studio, Blake sketched and then painted an exterior view of the Oval Office on a snowy December day. Under a blue-gray sky, and flanked by snow-covered foliage, the lone bright spots in the painting were the yellow light shining thorough two tall windows on the curved exterior wall. Blake compared the glow coming from the President’s office as “the sun shining through the gloom,” and said it evoked an invitation to “come in from the cold when the day is winding down.” Blake admitted that he repositioned some trees and shrubs to create the best artistic effect, wanting to keep the painting “easygoing and loose.” Originally, Mrs. Bush had not wanted a blanket of snow in the painting, but she eventually came around, thanking the artist for “the beautiful Christmas card” in writing at the press party. Hallmark was again selected to produce the White House Christmas cards – a run of 985,000 along with 7,600 gift prints. The Scripture verse selected was Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” The greeting read, “May the light of the season shine bright in your heart now and in the new year.”

In 2007, New Mexico artist David Drummond was selected to design the Presidential Christmas cards. Drummond was a well-known watercolorist, famed for his dramatic landscapes. The setting would be the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, formerly known as the East Garden. Drummond composed a scene featuring the Sylvia Shaw Judson statue, Gardner, a four-foot bronze statue of a child standing at the edge of and looking out over the corner of a small concrete pool. A low snow-frosted hedge ran around the pool’s perimeter and an Osage Tree, with its branches bare for the winter and weaving a complex pattern at the top of the setting, standing behind the pool. Behind this scene, a decorated Christmas tree was visible through one of the large Bay windows of the President’s home. The bible verse selected for the White House Christmas cards was Nehemiah 9:6: “You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all that their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” The greeting read, “May the joy of all creation fill your heart this blessed season.”

For their final Christmas in the White House, the Bushes chose Maine artist T. Allen Lawson to create the original artwork for their Presidential Christmas cards. Allen, who paints in oil and was also renowned for his landscape paintings, decided on a scene looking southward from the Truman Balcony, across The Ellipse – a northern offshoot of the National Mall. Halfway across the view, the Washington Monument stands regally at the left side of the painting, while the Jefferson Memorial is visible at the far end of the snow-covered expanse. In the foreground, a Christmas wreath with a red bow is hung from the black wrought-iron balcony railing, and two of the mansion’s white marble Ionic columns and the roof of the colonnade are visible. The bible verse included was Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” The greeting below this read, “May your heart and home be filled with the joys of the holiday season.”

George W. Bush was a polarizing figure whose presidency saw its share of history and controversy. Eight months after his disputed election came the unthinkable events of September 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 Americans died as the result of the devastating terrorist attacks. In response, Bush declared an international War on Terror against Al Qaeda and its allies. Within months, the U.S. military had invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government – a regime which had maintained a safe haven for the terrorist group. Al Qaeda was scattered and badly damaged, with many of its members captured or killed. However, the leadership, including Osama bin Laden, escaped into the mountainous no-man’s land on the Pakistani border where they continue their attempts to fuel extremism.

After several years, the Taliban regrouped and began challenging the new U.S.-backed government and NATO forces for control of certain regions. Following the early military successes in Afghanistan, Bush began calling for a more controversial war, this time against his father’s old nemesis Saddam Hussein and his Iraqi dictatorship. After another lightning-quick military victory, the administration seemed to have little in the way of a plan to govern post-Saddam Iraq, as an insurgency against the occupying U.S. forces followed by extreme sectarian violence between the country’s Sunni and Shia Muslims spiraled out of control for a number of years. The violence claimed the lives of over 4,300 U.S. soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqis.

Adding to the popular discontent was the fact that the president’s rationale for the war – a suspected weapons of mass destruction program – had not existed. At home, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, killing around 1,500 Americans and what was perceived as a slow and ineffective federal response further soured the public’s view of Bush. Then, in his final months in office, an economic bubble fueled by unregulated banking practices, artificially inflated housing prices, and speculative investing burst. The result was the worst recession and most severe economic crisis the U.S. had faced since the Great Depression of the 1930s. After a long string of ruinous events, the president who had enjoyed a near record-high approval rating in the aftermath of 9/11 left office with the support of less than 30% of Americans.

President Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States, living in the White House for eight Christmas holidays. The Reagans decided in their first year to send White House Christmas cards that would share the “aura” of the White House at Christmastime. They wanted to encourage young artists so they would have a different artist do a representation of the White House every year and use these for their official White House Christmas cards. This produced eight varied views of the White House “aura” in its holiday regalia.

The first White House Christmas cards sent by the Reagans featured Christmas Eve at the White House by Jamie Wyeth. Wyeth was the grandson of N.C. Wyeth, who painted one of President Nixon’s official White House Christmas cards. Jamie Wyeth’s vision was of the White House as a family home for the President in addition to being a museum and government center. He imagined the first family preparing for Christmas late at night as does every other family. This lovely painting is of the White House against a winter sky at night cast in indigo with all the stars lending an air of wonder. The layer of snow lends purity to the scene as the winter greenery stands guard in front of the first floor and portico entrance. Then a single lighted window stands out against the darkness, imbuing the White House with a sense of warmth. Upon viewing the painting for the first time, First Lady Nancy Reagan said, “[it looked like] everyone else had gone to bed and I was still up in my dressing room wrapping presents and doing all those things you do the night before Christmas. I loved it.”

This design when published required eight color separations and 65,00 Presidential Christmas cards were printed. The Reagans gave their staff a keepsake version of Jamie Wyeth’s artwork. Mrs. Reagan also gave her East Wing staff a silver-framed photograph engraved “Merry Christmas 1981, Nancy Reagan”. There were several signed photographs given to the domestic staff, and the holiday party favors featured brass tree ornaments engraved “Merry Christmas, The White House 1981”. Visitors to the White House during Christmas were treated to a plethora of old fashioned American decorations. This brought a feeling of nostalgia for simpler times with an abundance of wreaths, holly, and poinsettias.

President Reagan was unable to attend the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in 1981 due to security precautions that followed warnings of another assassination attempt to come. He lit the tree by remote control from the East Room of the White House. The North Portico of the White House had a single candle flickering in a window to show solidarity with the Polish struggle. This had a strange similarity to the 1981 White House Christmas cards.

The Reagans selected James Steinmeyer to create their second Presidential Christmas cards after Mrs. Reagan saw his work in House and Garden magazine. His rendering of the Red Room featured the fireplace and a detailed interpretation of the furniture, walls, and ceiling. The chandelier with its candle like lighting, the elegant drapes framing a burst of sunlight through the nearly floor to ceiling window, and the glowing fire lends an air of warmth to the formality of the furniture and paintings. A touch of Christmas greenery adds the element of holiday celebration to the room’s elegance. Steinmeyer was at the Christmas open house and was able to meet the Reagans for the first time. The First Lady expressed the pleasure she and the president received from the picture.

There were 65,000 White House Christmas cards sent in 1982 and 6,000 holiday gift prints of the Red Room painting were sent with the message, “With all best wishes for a joyous Christmas and a peaceful New Year from the President and Mrs. Reagan 1982”. The President and First Fady decided to stick with the old fashioned Christmas feel for the White House decorations and for the first time Mrs. Reagan figuratively opened the doors of the White House to the people with an NBC special that featured a tour of the decorated rooms led by Mrs. Reagan along with a history of White House Christmases.

President and Mrs. Reagan selected Mark Hampton out of five artists who were asked to submit samples for the official 1983 White House Christmas cards. Hampton was an interior decorator who had redone the official residence of the vice president. The official White House Christmas cards for the third year of President Reagan’s first term would show a depiction of the green room. This watercolor was appropriately titled Green Room at the White House. The simplicity of the Christmas season was brought out by placing a single wreath in the window centered in the painting. This room with its deep richness of color and furnishings is believed to be the most loved of all the White House drawing rooms. Hampton was able to capture this feeling with his finely detailed rendering of the smallest of details.

The Republican National Committee paid for the 100,000 Presidential Christmas cards and plus postage that year. Every card was hand-addressed by about 400 volunteers from the Office of Presidential Inquiry. The envelopes were written in black ink without abbreviating any streets or states. White House Christmas cards that were sent to past presidents, members of the Supreme Court, the Senate, and the House of Representatives written by a professional calligrapher, Kathlyn Peake, whose work was considered an art form. There were also 7,500 holiday gift prints made of the painting.

President Reagan was aided in lighting the national Christmas tree by Amy Benham, seven years old, who wrote to the Make a Wish Foundation from her home in Westport, Washington. Amy, who had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, wrote, “The Christmas tree that lights up our country must be seen all the way to heaven. I wish so much to help President Reagan turn on those Christmas Lights…”

Jamie Wyeth was once again chosen to do the official White House Christmas cards in 1984. He confided in the First Lady that he didn’t have a personal interest in capturing the feeling of a room and would prefer to do an outdoor painting again. The First Lady was open to a different idea than one of the drawing rooms. While walking around the White House he saw squirrels and found that President Reagan kept a bag of acorns in his office to feed them. This proved to be inspirational for Wyeth.

The 1984 White House Christmas card design was entitled Christmas Morning at the White House. The image of the North Portico topped by the American flag waving on a soft breeze exudes a feeling of peace in this oil painting. The majestic columns stand firm in their dignity at the edge of a snow covered lawn at the dawn of Christmas Day. In the shadow of the portico just visible near the entrance is a pair of Christmas trees, while the windows gaily display wreaths and garland is draped over the lantern chains. The tranquility of the scene is enhanced by the silent footprints of a squirrel as he heads for his early Christmas meal left at the White House doors. Nancy Reagan loved this painting as it reminded her that the squirrels always showed up at the White House on Monday morning as if they knew when the President had returned from Camp David.

President Reagan seemed to need more White House Christmas cards every year so 125,000 cards and 7,000 gifts prints were made. With his re-election assured, President Reagan returned the nativity to the Ellipse on the White House grounds after an absence of 12 years and spoke of the nativity in his speech when lighting the National Christmas Tree.

The Reagans viewed a sample of Thomas William Jones’ work, liked what they saw, and asked him to do a painting of the Blue Room for their official 1985 White House Christmas cards. Jones came to the White House to study the Blue Room from pictures taken at Christmas and to get the feel of the room. He did several sketches that curator Rex Scouten would bring back and forth to the First Lady until they all agreed on what section of the room would be incorporated in the painting. He found the enthusiasm of the staff for the Christmas decorations interesting, giving him an idea of the magical feeling of the holiday decorations.

The final painting had a view of two windows hung with wreaths that allowed sunlight in to brighten the Christmas floral arrangement on a small table centered under the ornate crystal chandelier. The decorated fireplace off to the left lends a hint of hominess to an otherwise formal space. The Christmas decorations are subtle with a hint of elegance. The walls and rug have a sense of dimension that is soft and appealing to the senses. 125,000 White House Christmas cards featuring this design, entitled The Blue Room at Christmas, were printed along with 8,000 holiday gift prints. The cost to the Republican National Committee was $27,000 for printing and mailing. The President and Mrs. Reagan loved the painting so much that they had Jones do the paintings for the next three years.

President and Mrs. Reagan agreed to let Thomas Jones do his own interpretation of the East Room for the 1986 White House Christmas cards. Jones wanted to paint a simpler version leaving out all the tiny details. The East Room at Christmas was a watercolor featuring soft and subtle shadings that conveyed a feeling of holiday wonder. The portrait of George Washington majestically stands as a focal point before your eye wanders to the mirror with its wreath of green above the gaily frolicking flames in the holiday fireplace. A portion of the beautifully presented tree covered in snow is reflected back from the mirror. As you pull back you realize that there are two trees with snow draped limbs on either side that bring a feeling of serenity to the painting.

Once again 125,000 official White House Christmas cards were sent out and 7,200 gift prints were given by the Reagans. President Reagan’s Christmas speech included the following thought: “The greatest gift we can give each other is the gift of ourselves.” This fit in nicely with his assistants in lighting the National Christmas tree in 1986. Byron White, eight, and his “Big Brother” Francis Hutton, were representatives of the Big Brother/Big Sister organization.

The State Dining Room was the featured room for the 1987 White House Christmas cards. Thomas William Jones offered two sketches of the room for approval, one was an angled view of Lincoln’s portrait and the other was a straight on view of the picture. President and Mrs. Reagan preferred the straight on view of the portrait. The artist removed the dining room table from the watercolor painting and used lights and diagonal shadows to create a deeper dimension. The wall has a softened, almost faded look with the portrait of Lincoln in stark relief above the blazing fireplace. Shadows along the floor give depth and intrigue to the floor space in the foreground. Christmas greenery is artfully draped around the portrait and on the mantle making the otherwise formal scene more festive.

125,000 Presidential Christmas cards were printed in 1987 and there were 6,600 prints made of The State Dining Room at Christmas. The tremendous job of hand addressing these cards was done by a large group of volunteers with good handwriting skills. President Reagan’s message and the lighting of the National Christmas Tree were done in early December to leave time for the summit meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev. The White House Christmas decorations were ready in all their glory to greet the State Dinner held for the Gorbachevs on December 8th.

President and Mrs. Reagan’s last White House Christmas cards design was entitled North Entry Hall at Christmas. This final card was done, once again, as a watercolor painting by Thomas William Jones in 1988 and featured a unique view of the entrance hall. The painting appears as if you are sneaking a peek between two columns to see what might be about to happen in the entry hall. The unique view shows a circa 1795 gilded mirror reflecting the draped window that lends a sense of space to the painting. Several lovely Christmas poinsettia arrangements are displayed on a table purchased by James Monroe in 1817. Warmth, light, and a feeling of expectation are all revealed in the painting’s view from the Cross Hall. The details are subtly executed by a master hand. Although Jones was not paid for his efforts, he felt “the honor of being asked [was] payment enough.”

The 125,000 White House Christmas cards of 1988 were imprinted with the message, “The President and Mrs. Reagan extend to you warm wishes that your holidays and the coming year will be filled with happiness and peace.” The staff were each a lucky recipient of one of the 7,000 gift prints. The President addressed a large crowd as he lit the National Christmas Tree for the last time on December 15, 1988. Reagan considered the last Christmas in the White House bittersweet, since he would be leaving the people who were there to help him carry out his duties as President, yet he would be returning to his beloved California. He felt the staff and Nancy had made the White House a real home for the eight years he lived there.

President Grover Cleveland was in the White House for eight Christmases, yet it is hard to know whether he sent out White House Christmas cards during his two non-consecutive terms because there was so little written about this area of President Cleveland’s life. White House Christmas cards have been officially sent out since 1953; however, Christmas cards were first offered for sale in America in 1875 and grew in popularity throughout the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

President Cleveland entered the White House as a bachelor who was generally regarded as a robust man who enjoyed beer and a chop. He courted the daughter of his former law partner when she was attending college and proposed to her when she graduated. President Cleveland was married in 1886, at the age of 49 to Francis Folsom at the White House and is the only President to have been married in the White House. It was a small ceremony held in the Blue Room and followed by an intimate reception for close friends and family. This event was commemorated in a Christmas ornament by the White House Historical Society in 2007 with a depiction of the ceremony reproduced from an engraving that appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Magazine in 1886. Francis Folsom Cleveland was the youngest First Lady at the age of 21 and as a modern young lady of the late 19th Century, it is possible that she adopted the new fad of sending cards and may have sent out White House Christmas Cards. It is doubtful that President Cleveland sent out White House Christmas Cards in his first year of office as a bachelor, but we do know that he did not put up a Christmas tree in the White House during his bachelor days.

The first mention of Christmas with President Grover Cleveland was in a Washington Post article that reported President and Mrs. Cleveland spent their first Christmas together at their farm called Red Top (as the President called his wife) with Frank’s mother. The Post further reported that the First Lady had the house decorated with English holly and evergreens and “in one of the rooms a pretty Christmas tree.” The new Mrs. Cleveland had been seen downtown, prior to Christmas, shopping in the crowded shops and she “gently elbowed her way through, and had a pleasant word for the tired shop girls.” The President worked Christmas morning and drove with Mrs. Cleveland to Red Top in the afternoon for dinner with her mother and Colonel Daniel Lamont (the President’s secretary) along with his family. President Cleveland personally wrote envelopes (not White House Christmas cards) for the staff containing a gift of cash for Christmas. The amount was not disclosed. Mrs. Cleveland joined a local club and they provided a Christmas banquet for the poor children of Washington. However, the “official” holiday season did not start until the New Year’s Day public reception, opening the White House winter social season.

When President Cleveland returned to the White House he had a changed household with the addition of two children. The following article appeared in the New York Times newspaper on December 26, 1894:

CHRISTMAS AT THE WHITE HOUSE

President Cleveland’s Children Have Their First Christmas tree

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 – The President and the members of the Cabinet spent the day at their respective homes. At the White House it was children’s day. The Cleveland babies enjoyed their first Christmas tree, which was placed in the library. It was beautifully trimmed and decorated. Mrs. Cleveland putting the finishing touches on it. The little ones were the recipients of many presents.

Preceding the dinner a luncheon was served to the children of the Cabinet, who came to the White House to see the tree. Mrs. Perrine, Mrs. Cleveland’s mother was the only guest of the family at dinner.

Secretary and Mrs. Carlisle probably had the largest family party, entertaining their children and grandchildren. A part of the menu of the Cabinet dinners was ducks killed by the President on his recent hunting trip in South Carolina. The President and Mrs. Cleveland remembered all the employees of the house with turkeys, and the servants received gifts in money.

During his first presidential term, Grover Cleveland wed Frances Folsom in the Blue Room of the White House. During Cleveland's second presidential term, they would celebrate Christmas in the White House with three out of their five children.

A very important Christmas at the White House was in 1895. President and Mrs. Cleveland had three daughters at the time. The first daughter, Ruth, had a candy bar named after her, although there are many people who contend the Baby Ruth bar was named after baseball legend, Babe Ruth. Esther, the second daughter, was the only baby to be born in the White House. The third daughter, Marion, was born in 1895. The advent of children changed the atmosphere for President Cleveland’s White House. A Christmas tree was erected and decorated with gold angels, gold and silver sleds, lots of tinsel, and the first electric lights to be put on a Christmas tree in the White House. The multi-colored lights replaced candles for the first time. Electric lights soon became popular when people heard that they were used in the White House. Under the tree were dolls, a doll house, and a miniature White House.

President Cleveland was born Stephen Grover Cleveland on March 18, 1837 in Caldwell, New Jersey. He was the fifth of nine children born to Richard, a Presbyterian minister, and Anne. Although he was the only President to be born in New Jersey, he grew up mainly in upstate New York. Cleveland and his brother and sisters attended school with supplemental educational subjects taught at home by their father. He enjoyed swimming, fishing, and playing pranks, such as taking the neighbors gates off their hinges. He changed schools when he was 13, eventually graduating from the Clinton Liberal Institute. President Cleveland recalled these years as some of his happiest. The children were required to attend church services twice on Sunday as well as Sunday School. President Cleveland never revealed how his childhood Christmases were spent, but it is presumed that as the son of a Presbyterian minister, they were austere and devoted to prayer and church services following the customs of the time.

Grover Cleveland’s plans to go to college were sidetracked when his father died in 1853. He went to work at a blind school as an assistant teacher. He left this job after a year because the superintendent treated the pupils harshly with whippings. Cleveland eventually finished his studies while working in Buffalo, became a member of the bar in 1859, and grew into a hard working attorney. He became a hard working, honest attorney who was well known on the local political scene as a “bulldog.” Cleveland was nearly six feet and almost 300 pounds with a large mustache and piercing eyes. He spent his spare time in local taverns eating chops and drinking beer. He loved to fish and hunt, but he was mostly working. He continued to help support his mother and most likely visited her during the Christmas holidays. There is little doubt that he would not have put up a Christmas tree for himself.

Grover Cleveland became active in local politics and was elected sheriff of Erie County, New York in 1871 and served until 1874. During his time as sheriff he carried out two executions himself and kept these from being a public spectacle as had been the previous custom. Cleveland felt that he could not ask another person to carry out any duty he was unwilling to perform. He did not run for a second term as sheriff, feeling it would not be of benefit to his career, so he returned to private practice.

Several years later he was chosen to run for Mayor of Buffalo and took office in 1881. He became well known in the state as a reformer and was elected as Governor of New York in 1882, where he worked closely with the young Theodore Roosevelt, a reform minded Republican. Grover Cleveland ran for the presidency in 1884 as a Democrat and won with the backing of the Democratic Party as well as the Republican Party reformers, known as “Mugwumps” – who disliked Cleveland’s opponent, James Blaine of Maine. This turned into one of the dirtiest campaigns in American history and was conducted with more innuendo than substance. President elect Cleveland probably spent a quiet holiday after the election, but nothing was written in the newspapers on where or how he spent Christmas in 1884.

After serving his second term, ex-President Cleveland retired to his Princeton, New Jersey estate, Westland Mansion. His two sons were born here, and together they celebrated Christmas for almost a decade until his death in 1908.

On March 4, 1885, Grover Cleveland became the 22nd President of the United States. He entered the White House as a bachelor and his sister, Rose, served as his First Lady until he married in 1886. Cleveland was one of the hardest working presidents and during his two terms of office he vetoed more bills than any other president except Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who served over 3 terms). During his first term of office the Presidential Succession Act was passed in 1886, the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887, and the Dawes Severalty Act in 1887.

Cleveland ran for President in 1888 and won the popular vote, but lost the election when he failed to have enough electoral votes. He said, “What is the use of being elected or reelected, unless you stand for something?” He ran again in1892 because he disliked the way President Harrison was making decisions and this time he won, making him the only President to hold non-consecutive turns.
President Cleveland’s second turn of office started off with one of the biggest economic depressions in American history. During the “Panic of 1893,” he was diagnosed with cancer and under the pretext of a trip on the Presidential yacht, he was operated on and a rubber prosthesis was placed in his lip. This operation was kept secret from the public so as not to add the Wall Street panic. In fact, the truth of Cleveland’s illness was not revealed until after his death.

While President Cleveland worked long hours and took little time for leisure, even during the Christmas season, First Lady Frances Cleveland took a more active role with the Christmas Club charities in Washington than any other previous first lady. She wrapped and distributed gifts to the poor children and set a tradition of good works that many other subsequent first ladies would carry on during the Christmas holiday.

Cleveland lost the backing of his party during his second term of office and he said, “Party honesty is party expediency.” Although he sought the Democratic nomination for President in 1900, William Jennings Bryant was nominated instead. Cleveland was the only Democrat elected between the Civil War and Woodrow Wilson’s administration. President Cleveland retired to Princeton, New Jersey and led a quiet life. His two sons, Richard and Francis, were born here. He was approached by the Democrats in 1904 but turned down the opportunity to run again. Cleveland was acquainted with future President Woodrow Wilson, but they did not like each other.

President Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, died in 1908. He was the first President to be in movies and the first to have electric lights on a Christmas tree. Historians have labeled Grover Cleveland as one of our better presidents. He was willing to stand up for what he believed in, even if it went against his own party and the popular opinion of his time. He was a hard working honest man and his own words can sum up what his life was about: “I am honest and sincere in my desire to do well, but the question is whether I know enough to accomplish what I desire.”

One of the most well-known events of the Revolutionary War was the surprise attack of the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, on a Hessian garrison in Trenton, New Jersey. The Battle of Trenton, preceded by Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware River on that very cold, snowy Christmas night in 1776, included the brave actions of platoon leader Lieutenant James Madison, the man who would become the fourth president of the United States as well as one of our Founding Fathers.

James Madison, born March 16, 1751, was one of 12 children (of whom nine survived) of James, Sr. and Nelly Conway Madison. Growing up in Virginia’s Orange County, young Madison’s family was well off financially from his father having inherited an estate (called Montpelier) as well as securing vast amounts of valuable property. Although there is no historical information regarding the Madison family’s traditional celebrations of the Christmas holiday during this time period, it can be assumed that because of their wealth, they most probably followed the customs and habits of similar families. James and his younger siblings would have had plum pudding and candied fruits on their Christmas table, along with displays of holly, ivy, mistletoe, and even perhaps the singing of songs. Certainly, there were no Christmas cards exchanged with friends or relatives since that practice did not become a custom in the United States until many years later.

As a student preparing for college, James excelled in languages, geography, and mathematics. At 18, he enrolled at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). It is somewhat ironic that young Madison, who graduated in 1771, would attend a school only a short distance away from where, five years later, he would distinguish himself as a soldier on Christmas Day fighting his new country’s German adversaries. Upon his return to Montpelier after graduation, Madison became a lawyer, a politician, and an active member in the Virginia Assembly. In the early 1780s, following the end of the war, he returned to the Virginia legislature, where he worked and learned under the guidance of Thomas Jefferson. As a member of the Continental Congress, Madison was a major contributor at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 of the writing and ratification of the Federalist Papers, a precursor of the American Constitution. In addition, he was instrumental in the writing of the Bill of Rights. A shy man, Madison rejected a title bestowed upon him by admirers – Father of the Constitution – claiming credit should be given to many who contributed to the document’s existence.

It was in the spring of 1794, as a leading figure in the House of Representatives under President Washington, that Madison met Dolley Payne Todd, a widow with a young son. The vivacious, colorful, and friendly Dolley would marry the inhibited, often frail Madison after a short courtship of only a few months. Her sociability would become an asset for her husband as well as for the country itself in the coming years.

James and Dolley Madison celebrated many lavish Christmas holidays at Montpelier, their Virginia estate and plantation located in the hills of Virginia.

Following Thomas Jefferson’s ascendency to the presidency following the election of 1800, James Madison was selected by his political colleague to serve as the country’s fifth Secretary of State. Under his aegis, Madison oversaw the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, was a sponsor of the Embargo Act of 1807, and was a party to the historic Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison. It was during these years that Dolley acted as an official hostess for President Jefferson, a widower. At Christmas of 1805, Dolley invited six of Jefferson’s grandchildren and 100 of their friends to what became a joyous holiday party where the President played the violin while the children danced. These Christmas celebrations, hosted by the charming Dolley who made sure delicacies were enjoyed by all, continued through the years Jefferson was president.

When her husband succeeded his mentor as the master of the White House in 1809, the tradition of celebrating Christmas with White House parties – hosted by none other than Dolley – continued. Her holiday attire would usually include some purple peacock feathers atop a turban or cap covering her hair, along with her dress of lace and pink satin. Although there were neither White House Christmas cards exchanged nor a decorated Christmas tree in those years, the holiday tradition would include wonderful things to eat, as she would oversee the serving of seafood, stuffed goose, Virginia ham, and pound cake, as well as spirits such as sherry, bourbon, wine, and scotch. She would lift her glass with the heartfelt toast, “Merry Christmas! God Bless America!” Her lavish dinner parties, not just at Christmas but also during other times of the year, established Dolley as a central figure of Washington society and certainly helped her husband get re-elected in 1812.

During the time in which Madison served as president, the most remembered event is the War of 1812. Trade restrictions imposed by Great Britain on America’s trading with Britain’s perennial enemy, France; British support for Native Americans against frontier expansion; as well as forced recruitment of American citizens into Britain’s navy were all causes of a war termed by many as “Mr. Madison’s War.” Although fighting occurred in Canada, in the Northwest Territory, and on the frontier, the sacking of Washington, D.C. and the burning of both the Capitol and the White House by the British in August, 1814 is what most people remember about the war. In fact, it was the courageous Dolley, with the British army on the verge of entering the capitol, who stayed behind, ensuring that important state documents as well as a famous portrait of George Washington were safely removed before safely fleeing and joining her husband and government officials in the hills of Virginia.

After two years of conflict with neither side a clear victor, both the United States and Britain were weary that there seemed to be no end in sight. Finally, on the day before Christmas in 1814, officials from both countries met in the Netherlands to sign the Treaty of Ghent, which restored relations between the two adversaries as it had been two years previously, ending the war. Because communication back then was not what it is today, the negotiators’ special “Christmas card” with the good news of the war’s end did not reach President Madison until several weeks into the new year.

Following the ratification of the treaty in February of 1815, the citizenry of America was thrust into a sense of euphoria. The rest of Madison’s years as president were known as the “Era of Good Feelings” because Americans were relieved that there finally was an end to the British attempt at dominance against the U.S. since the Revolution. Indeed, a most wonderful Christmas present to the American people from their President!

After the end of his presidency in 1817, James and Dolley retired to their beloved Montpelier. Following the death of Thomas Jefferson in 1826, Madison succeeded his longtime friend as president of the University of Virginia, the last occupation he would hold. In 1829, he would also serve as a representative to the Virginia Constitutional Convention, his last appearance as a legislator.

Even during the years after her husband’s presidency had ended, Dolley continued to entertain guests in her always cheerful and gregarious manner, especially at Christmastime. There would be dancing and partaking of good food – often received as gifts – from Christmas right on through New Year’s Day. Even though the yearly tradition of sending Christmas cards was unheard of at that time, the Madisons and their relatives and friends wrote letters to each other wishing the best sentiments of the holiday season. Here is a note written by Dolley Madison for her nieces early in 1836: “A thousand wishes for your happiness and prosperity on every and many Christmas days to come!”

It was later that year, on June 28, that the former president passed away at the age of 85; he was the last of the Founding Fathers to die. Because of financial difficulties, Dolley Madison a year later was forced to sell the tobacco plantation and return to Washington. Still friendly and outgoing, the former First Lady continued to partake in social and political events, during the year as well as at Christmas, and was beloved by everyone who knew her. In 1849, at the age of 81, she passed away. She was buried at Montpelier, next to her husband.

In 1993, for the First Family’s inaugural White House Christmas cards, Hillary Clinton originally commissioned a pair of local artists to submit a design. Both of these offerings were rejected, the first because it too closely resembled the White House Christmas cards design sent by the President’s predecessor, and the second because it didn’t quite capture the essence Mrs. Clinton wanted. With Hillary Clinton having recently posed for Vogue magazine, the idea of using a photograph came to the forefront. On Veterans Day, New York photographer Neal Slavin took numerous shots of the First Couple and the White House grounds. In the end, a distinguished print of the President and Mrs. Clinton in the State Dining room was selected. In the background stood a tree decorated with American Crafts ornaments and the mantel, which was decorated by a local florist. An amber glow rose from the fireplace while the couple stood under a large portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

American Greetings was selected as the company to produce the Clintons’ official 1993 White House Christmas cards. Inside the cards, a blind Presidential Seal was embossed with the printed message, “Our family wishes you and yours a joyful holiday season and a new year blessed with health, happiness and peace.” In all, 250,000 cards were produced on recycled paper, as well as 10,000 keepsake gift prints, which were given to members of the White House staff, amongst others. The Presidential Christmas cards were produced at American Greetings’ plants in Corbin and Bardstown, Kentucky. Workers at the Osceola, Arkansas plant produced 300,000 simple but elegant envelopes. On the back of the cards, the logos of American Greetings and the teamsters union were stamped.

For 1994’s White House Christmas cards, the First Lady wanted to “highlight the house and the feeling that the house has during Christmas, which is really magical.” For the design, the Clintons hired Thomas F. McKnight, a contemporary romantic figurative artist known for his bold use of color. McKnight submitted fantasy prints of both the Red Room and Blue Room. Since the Blue Room was due to be renovated, the First Couple selected his Red Room print, which transmitted an enchanted and almost humorous look, rather than the overtly formal Red Room of previous administrations’ White House Christmas cards.

Said McKnight, “I attempt to evoke with color, form, and imagination the essence of a place or thing without so much regard for historical accuracy.” In keeping with these guidelines, McKnight brought the Washington and Jefferson Monuments into view outside the room’s window. He removed 19th Century paintings from the walls and replaced them with a portrait of himself and his wife’s dog gazing over the hills of Middletown, New York, where he had once lived. The painting over the fireplace was replaced with a print of the White House and a Christmas tree was added (one had never stood in the Red Room before). On the mantel, the artist hung three stockings decorated with American flags. Under the tree were placed a new saxophone for President Clinton and a sled for Chelsea. On the table, a new tea set for Hillary was lain out and the First Cat, Socks, was pictured napping under a chair. Once again, the Democratic National Committee paid for 250,000 recycled-paper holiday cards to be printed by American Greetings, and for 1994, 15,000 gift prints were produced. The envelopes were addressed by computer, machine-stuffed, and stamped by meter. For the first time, anyone could view a color image of the card on the internet at http://www.whitehouse.gov.

In 1995, the First Lady turned her attention to the renovation of the Blue Room. This redecorated chamber was chosen as the setting for the 1995 White House Christmas cards and Thomas McKnight was again commissioned to create the design. The prior year, McKnight had painted a more formal Blue Room scene which wasn’t used. For ’95, he composed one which exuded more warmth. Socks again appeared curled up under a blanket below a decorated tree. And Mrs. McKnight’s dog again made an appearance, relaxing behind Socks. As the artist does not duplicate existing paintings, James Madison’s portrait was replaced by a painting of Mr. McKnight’s Litchfield, Connecticut neighbor’s backyard, with the famed Sheldon Tavern (where George Washington once stayed) also appearing in the framed rendering. The Washington Monument is visible outside one window, under a trademark full moon.

It was very important to First Lady Hillary Clinton that the newly refurbished Blue Room appear accurate in color and design. Samples of the drapery were actually sent to American Greetings to compare to their color proofs. For the season, the company printed 300,000 official White House Christmas cards and 15,000 gift prints. The deckle-edged design was burnished by a gold foil border and a blind embossed Presidential Seal.

Impressed with his style, the Clintons again asked McKnight to produce the print used for their Presidential Christmas cards. For 1996, the Green Room would be used as the setting. This time, his rendition of Socks, lounging on a chair, didn’t go as smoothly as previous offerings. The artist received a call from a staff member on Air Force One, asking that he correct the snout, which some felt was too extended and fox-like. By that time, however, the print had already been sent to American Greetings, so someone had to adjust the snout on a computer. Once again, the artist added elements of fantasy to the room. The painting, which appears above the doorway, is McKnight’s original view of the White House from the South Lawn. Hung over the china cabinet is a portrait of the artist’s Litchfield, Connecticut backyard – provided as a symbol of typical, suburban life. The perspective had to be significantly skewed to make both windows appear in the photo, with the Washington Monument again visible through one. Swatches of the room’s drapes were again provided to American Greetings, to ensure that the accurate color was reproduced. All 300,000 White House Christmas cards were produced and ready for mailing by November 29th.

During the summer of 1997, Hillary Clinton was captivated by a postcard she found depicting a nocturnal scene. She had her staff contacted the artist, Kay Jackson from Georgetown, and ask her to portray a nocturnal outdoor scene of the White House for the First Couple’s Presidential Christmas cards. Ms. Jackson would be the first woman to create the art used on official White House Christmas cards. The artist sat on the White House south lawn, studying the subject and dedicated three weeks to the project. In order to envelop the building in twilight, she applied 10 layers of glazes, each a slightly different shade of blue. She managed to create an abstract reflection of the executive mansion in the snow. In her usual style (and the one which won Mrs. Clinton’s approval in the first place), she stamped gold leaf into the paint, making up the windows to add life to the image. Dubbed “White House Nocturne, South Lawn 1997,” the following message was added to the president’s 300,000 White House Christmas cards and gift prints: “Our family wishes you and yours a beautiful holiday season filled with the warmth of friends and loved ones, and the promise of a happy new year.”

Following that holiday season, the Monica Lewinsky scandal erupted and would prove to be by far and away the most trying episode of the Clinton presidency. Closing out a tumultuous 1998, and facing possible impeachment, the First Family tried to distract themselves in preparation for the holidays. Turning again to an interior setting for their White House Christmas cards, they decided to go for a more realistic, rather than imaginative feel. An aide contacted Martha’s Vineyard artist Ray Ellis, famed for his impressionistic seascapes, to do the work. Working against a tight deadline, Ellis arrived at the White House on September 29th and began photographing his subject, the State Dining Room, which was in the process of being redecorated.

Ellis decided to paint a formal setting, with the table lain out for a holiday dinner. He said his most difficult task was reproducing the painting of Abraham Lincoln, which hangs above the mantel and the Theodore Roosevelt-era chandelier. Ellis adorned the table with floral arrangements and the Wilson china and hung evergreen bows above the Lincoln portrait as a fire blazed in the hearth. He quickly sent a sketch to the White House, and upon approval, composed a rich, cream-and-gold watercolor in a single day. The final design was approved on October 13th – just two days before Ellis left for a European vacation. For the sixth year, American Greetings was chosen to print President Clinton’s 300,000 White House Christmas cards and gift prints, and the cards were embossed with a Presidential Seal and a message reading, “May peace and joy be yours at the holiday season and throughout the new year.” The official Presidential cards appeared in many newspapers throughout the country, leading the 77-year-old artist to comment, “You couldn’t buy that kind of publicity. It proves that if you live long enough, good things happen to you.” He happily donated the painting to the White House collection.

In 1999, having survived impeachment over obstruction of justice charges, the Clintons once again asked the esteemed artist to produce the art for their White House Christmas cards. Ellis requested that he be permitted to do a landscape, which was his specialty. It was agreed that the holiday cards would focus on the North Portico of the White House. Ellis immediately flew to Washington and got to work, positioning himself on the building’s north lawn this time around and sketching everything down to the last detail, taking note of the design of the windows and the lantern and adding three people entering the residence on a snow-blanketed night. American Greetings again reproduced the image on white card stock with a blank embossed Presidential seal and a message reading, “Our family wishes you and yours a blessed holiday season filled with treasured memories of past traditions and joy and peace in the new millennium.” The Presidential Christmas cards design was titled, “The White House, An American Treasure,” and the holiday theme for the year, Holiday Treasures at the White House, focused on honoring the rich traditions which had made America great – an appropriate sentiment at the turn of the millennium.

In 2000, for their final White House Christmas cards, the Clintons again contacted Ellis, who toured the White House and grounds, taking photographs. The First Family was away, and Ellis even took a moment to have himself photographed behind the President Clinton’s desk in the Oval Office – a moment he said he’d never forget. At home, Ellis finished a series of sketches and sent them to the Hillary Clinton. The First Lady decided that it would be best for the card to depict a room they had not portrayed previously – the First Family’s second-floor living room.

Ellis produced a watercolor of the Yellow Oval Room decorated with a tree and colored lights and poinsettias, with wrapped gifts and a toy soldier under the tree. The Washington Monument stood in full view through one window. At Mrs. Clinton’s request, he added First Pets Socks and Buddy to the left foreground of the painting. A sentimental greeting was added to the Clinton’s last White House Christmas cards, “With warm and treasured memories of our special time in the White House, our family sends you and yours our heartfelt wishes for a joyous holiday season and a new year filled with peace and good will,” along with printed copies of the President’s and First Lady’s signatures. For 2000, American Greetings produced a record 400,000 presidential Christmas cards. Sadly, for the First Family and Vice President Al Gore, that Christmas would be celebrated just days after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its controversial decision delivering the 2000 election to Gore’s rival, George W. Bush.

Bill Clinton certainly had his share of detractors, often based on his own personal flaws, or his ability to make only incremental improvements to the nation’s healthcare system, rather than the comprehensive healthcare plan he failed to pass. But during his time in office, the nation enjoyed eight years of relative peace (interrupted briefly by a successful 1999 air war to stop ethnic cleansing in the Balkans) and record prosperity. Clinton instituted policies which promoted free trade and a balanced budget. During his presidency, nearly 23 million jobs were created, with low unemployment throughout. The stock market reached unparalleled highs, due in large part to technological advances such as widespread use of the internet and the dot-com bubble. In 1999, the nation’s budget was balanced for the first time in 35 years. Once dismissed as a rube by his critics, the former little-known small-state governor would depart the office of president with a 65% approval rating.

While in the White House, President Bush and his wife Barbara established four “firsts” when it came to sending White House Christmas cards: the first card created by a White House staff artist, the first design that featured the Oval Office, the first to show the First Family’s living quarters, and the first depicting official activities on the White House lawn.

In 1989, Mrs. Bush felt that it “would be fun to have someone who had worked so long in the White House and who loved it so much to paint [their] card.” Director of graphics William Gemmell, who had previously drawn images for While House invitations and programs, was chosen for the task. Gemmell admits to being “scared to death” following the list of famed American artists who had worked on the Reagan series of Presidential Christmas cards. Using a combination of watercolor and acrylic, he composed two variations of the Truman Balcony as viewed from the South Lawn. Exterior Christmas decorations adorned the familiar view, and a Christmas tree stood visible through the windows of the Blue Room. The door leading to the Diplomatic Reception Room – the First Family’s personal entrance to the residence, was captured near the bottom of the scene. Mrs. Gemmell came up with the title for the paintings, Celebrating Christmas at the President’s House.

Mrs. Bush showed both renderings of the South Portico to Hallmark representatives. She informed them that she liked the painting with less snow better, while her husband preferred the snow-swept scene and asked them to make a decision. Eventually the snow-covered print was accepted, but Mrs. Bush was delighted nonetheless, stating that “Bill did a wonderful job. We loved it because that’s the way you think of the White House.” Hallmark printed 150,000 official White House Christmas cards and 7,500 gift prints for the Bushes. The interior greeting read, “The President and Mrs. Bush extend their warmest wishes that Christmas and the New Year will hold much happiness and peace for you and those you love.”

For 1990, President W.H. Bush decided to feature the Oval Office in the First Family’s official holiday cards. New York interior designer Mark Hampton had helped the Bushes refurbish several White House rooms, including the Oval Office. He found a rug the President had requested – blue with a gold seal, recovered some antique White House chairs which had been in storage, and added blue curtains and more traditional sofas. The President and Mrs. Bush decided to ask the self-described “Sunday painter” to compose a formal rendering of the Oval Office for their official White House Christmas cards. Hampton called it “a great honor” and sent the First Couple a preliminary sketch. According to the First Lady, “He sent the most marvelous painting for us to approve and there in the middle was Millie! George felt, and I did too, that when you send greetings to Kings and Queens, you don’t need the dog in the picture. So he painted another, and I have both of his sketches – for the official card and the unofficial card.” The design was entitled The Oval Office, The White House and Hallmark printed 153,000 Presidential Christmas cards and 7,000 gift folders. For that Christmas, President W. H. Bush presented the members of his Cabinet and executive staff with copies of David Boorstein’s book, The Americans: The Democratic Experience.

The following year, Mrs. Bush contacted her old friend, artist Kamil Kubik, who immigrated to New York from communist Czechoslovakia in 1948. She invited him to the White House to create the image of a family Christmas. In the first depiction of the family’s living quarters to be portrayed in an official White House Christmas card, Kubik set up in the second-floor Yellow Oval Room and painted for two days. He described the experience as “incredible… to be in that elegant room, surrounded by magnificent American paintings.” In his portrait, The Family Tree, Upstairs at the White House, the artist portrayed a scene of toys and other opened gifts scattered around the tree and surrounding area beneath the room’s grand and glowing chandelier. For 1992, Hallmark produced 160,000 White House Christmas cards and 5,000 gift prints. To his top staff, President Bush bequeathed a copy of the sequel to the previous year’s Boorstein offering, The Americans: The National Experience.

For Christmas 1991, Kubik was on hand to capture the ceremonial lighting of the official tree on the White House lawn. To help flip the switch were five American hostages recently freed from captivity in Lebanon. After an unintended 28-second technical delay, the 38-foot spruce illuminated in red, white, and blue, and the 12,000 in attendance burst into applause. Set against an indigo sky, Kubik captured the multi-tiered patriotic lighting, state trees adorned with brightly colored flags, and surrounding snow-covered foliage, and committed it to canvas. Said the artist, “I didn’t do it with any idea in mind. I just liked the scene and activity at Christmas.” The President and First Lady loved Kubik’s painting and asked if they could again use his art for their official 1992 White House Christmas cards. Kubik described it as “a great honor” stating, “During World War II, I escaped from the Communists and found refuge in the American army…the President, as Commander-in-Chief, is the Guardian Angel (of the civilized world). For me, to be able to do something for the President, I would drop everything at any time.” Hallmark produced a record 185,000 official Presidential Christmas cards, as well as 8,500 commemorative folders displaying Kubik’s painting. Close aides and staff members received a third Boorstein book, The Americans: The Colonial Experience, from President Bush.

George H.W. Bush’s one term as president was a time of great change in the world. It is viewed as a time of triumph in international affairs but temporary economic uncertainty at home. The fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, and later, the Soviet Union, swept away the geopolitical reality which had existed for nearly half a century. Liberal democracy and free-market capitalism had triumphed in the Cold War and America now stood alone as the world’s one remaining superpower. The U.S. military orchestrated a quick victory in ousting the regime of Manuel Noriega from Panama, and an overwhelming show of force in leading the international force which routed Saddam Hussein’s army from Kuwait.

At home, however, the economic downturn which began in 1990 accelerated into 1992 amid a rash of bank failures, rising unemployment and falling property values. Bush lost some support among stalwart Republicans when he broke his “read my lips, no new taxes” pledge in compromising with congressional Democrats on a capital-gains tax increase. The public mood turned negative and Bush was defeated in his bid for re-election by charismatic Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. He would leave the White House after four eventful years. Upon their departure, First Lady Barbara Bush remarked, “As someone blessed with the extraordinary privilege of living here, it was a bit surprising that this house so quickly became our home…the White House must be many things to many people: repository of so much of our history, seat of government, public museum and, of course, private residence. This wonderful place fills each of these roles magnificently.”

For their first Christmas in the White House in 1977, The Carters asked Harvey Moriarty, a family friend, to draw a picture of the White House for their 1977 Christmas cards. Moriarty’s drawing, done in pen and ink, featured a view of the White House South Portico from the South Lawn. Hallmark lithographed the image on deckle-edged ivory paper. The imprint read, “With best wishes from our family for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The President and Mrs. Carter.”

It was suggested by the Democratic National Committee that the President send Christmas cards to campaign workers and donors to express appreciation and maintain support for the 1980 campaign. So to make certain they would have enough holiday greetings to send out, President Carter and the First Lady ordered a whopping 60,000 White House Christmas cards from Hallmark that year! The President and Mrs. Carter also commissioned Hallmark to reproduce Moriarty’s White House drawing for their Christmas gift prints. Hallmark made up 5,000 prints, which were given out to the White House staff. Each print was inscribed with the title, “The White House-1977,” and contained signatures of both the President and First Lady.

Reflecting President Carter’s policies towards conserving energy and mitigating inflation in the economy (as well as Mrs. Carter’s taste), the White House was dressed with simple decorations for the holiday season. The 20-foot White House Christmas tree, which stood in the Blue Room, was decorated with 2,500 ornaments made by developmentally challenged Americans from all across the country.

On December 15, the President lit his first National Christmas Tree with help from his daughter, Amy. A 34-foot Colorado blue spruce cut from Maryland replaced the deteriorating live spruce used during Ford’s administration. The former tree didn’t go to waste, however; it was used for kindling in the Yule log fire pit. The National Christmas Tree was decorated in 2,000 green energy-saving five-watt lamps accompanied by 500 twinkle lights and white ornaments. As an additional energy-saving precaution, the lights were only illuminated until 10 PM after the New Year.

In the President’s annual Christmas greeting to the American people, Carter spoke of the American family saying, “…I hope that we’ll make every effort during this Christmas season not only to bring our immediate family together but to look at the family of all humankind, so that we not any longer cherish a commitment toward animosity or the retention of enemies but that we forgive one another and indeed, form a worldwide family where every human being on Earth is our brother or our sister…”

On January 26, 1978, the newly cut National Christmas Tree was knocked over by strong winds. The 34-foot Colorado blue spruce had been ripped from its root system and was not expected to survive, so the National Park Service replaced it with a 26-foot Colorado spruce from York, Pennsylvania. This same tree has served as the National Christmas Tree to the present date since its resurrection on the Ellipse in January of 1978.

Several months later, while wandering through the White House furnishings warehouse looking for unused furniture and paintings, Mrs. Carter came across a hand-colored engraving of a photograph of the White House by L.E. Walker. The engraving was originally featured in an 1877 edition of Harper’s Weekly, depicting guests in horse-drawn carriages arriving at the North Portico of the Executive Mansion. The First Lady was so impressed with the engraving that she decided to use it for the official White House Christmas cards of that year.

In 1978, the Carters commissioned American Greetings Corporation to produce their Christmas cards. American Greetings printed 60,000 White House Christmas cards, each adorned with the Presidential Seal and the imprint, “With best wishes from our family for a happy holiday season.” The President and Mrs. Carter also had 5,100 Christmas gift prints made using the same Walker engraving. By September, an additional 40,000 Presidential Christmas cards were requested from American Greetings. The White House Correspondence Office had to enlist volunteers from all over Washington just to help address, stuff, and stamp each of the 100,000 Christmas cards.

The 1877 engraving had inspired the First Lady to decorate the White House for the holiday season in a simple theme from a century of yore. The 20-foot White House Christmas tree was adorned with antique dolls, toys, and furniture on loan from the Strong Museum of Rochester, New York. All of the mantle and window decorations also echoed this style of simplicity.

On December 14, President Carter lit the newly planted Colorado blue spruce. Having recently granted China full diplomatic and trade relations as well as working on creating peace between Israel and Egypt, his Christmas greeting to the American people reflected the notion of humanitarianism. Taken from an excerpt of his speech, he said, “We are joining together as a people again, realizing the strength of a common purpose.”

The following year proved to be a challenging one, both politically and economically. The 1979 energy crisis was taking place, and in response to President Carter granting temporary asylum to the Shah of Iran, Iranian militants held 50 Americans hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran. Presidential aides had suggested canceling Christmas in the White House altogether, but in a U.S. News and World Report article, Carter was quoted as saying, “Canceling Christmas would be giving the Iranians more power over events here then they ought to have.” And so the Christmas festivities went on.

The White House Christmas tree, an 18-foot Douglas fir from West Virginia, was decorated by students from the Corcoran School of Art. The students created 500 ornaments featuring rocking horses, angels, ships, birds, and fruit. One reporter from the New York Times described the tree as having the most avant-garde decorations in the history of the White House.

For the 1979 official White House Christmas cards, Mrs. Carter selected an 1860 watercolor painting done by Lefevre J. Cranstone entitled, The President’s House, Washington. American Greetings printed 105,000 Presidential Christmas cards featuring Cranstone’s painting on the front cover. Each card contained the imprint, “With best wishes from our family for a happy holiday season.” President Carter and the First Lady also had American Greetings produce 7,000 Christmas gift prints using the same artwork from their White House Christmas cards.

On December 13, the President had his daughter light the National Christmas Tree, but to everyone’s surprise, the switch only illuminated the star-shaped tree topper and the blue lights that lit-up the state trees on the Pathway of Peace. In President Carter’s Christmas greeting, he announced that the National Christmas Tree would remain dark until the American hostages were set free. He said, “Amy had lit fifty trees – one for each American hostage. We will turn on the rest of the lights when the hostages come home.” The President then requested a moment of silent prayer.

The following year was an election year, and with President Carter’s dwindling popularity amongst the American people, he ended up dramatically losing the election to Republican candidate Ronald Reagan. Since it would be their last Christmas in the White House, the Carters decided the theme for their holiday season would be a romantic, old-fashioned Christmas. The White House Christmas tree was decorated with Victorian-style ornaments, some depicting 19th Century dolls with porcelain heads. The President and Mrs. Carter even had man-made snow produced on the South Lawn for the White House staff and their families to enjoy.

For the Carters’ final White House Christmas cards, the First Lady chose a 19th Century painting by an unknown artist entitled, The President’s House. The painting, which featured Washington’s Tiber Creek in the foreground and the Executive Mansion in the background, was based on a drawing done by William Henry Bartlett in 1839 – the same drawing used for President Nixon’s 1972 White House Christmas cards. American Greetings produced 120,000 White House Christmas cards, each containing the imprint, “With best wishes from our family for a happy holiday season.” The First Family also had American Greetings make up 7,000 Christmas gift prints featuring the same painting as on their Christmas cards.

On December 18, 1980, President Carter lit his final National Christmas Tree. The tree stayed illuminated for only 417 seconds, each second symbolizing the total number of days that the American hostages were being detained in Iran. In his final Christmas greeting to the American people, the President talked about the hostage situation in Iran and the reasons why the tree was to remain unlit. At one point he said, “The hostage families asked me to do this year the same thing we did last year. And this is just to light the Star of Hope and to hold the other lights unlit until the hostages come home. And they also asked me to ask all Americans to continue to pray for the lives and safety of our hostages and for their early return to freedom…”

On January 20 of the following year – the same day as Ronald Reagan’s Presidential Inauguration – the American hostages were released. And holding true to President Carter’s words, the National Christmas Tree was decorated in time for their return to freedom.

Having to move into the White House so suddenly and getting settled, the new First Family had very little time to prepare for their 1974 Christmas. The most recent presidents and their families took their Christmas decorations with them, so Mrs. Ford had to get the White House in order for the holiday season from start to finish. She decided on a patchwork theme, and commissioned several artisan workshops from around the nation to create ornaments for the White House Christmas tree. Because the country was in the worst economic times since the 1930s, the patchwork theme was to symbolize simplicity and financial prudence.

For their first Christmas gift to the White House staff, President Ford and the First Lady had 5,000 reproductions made by Hallmark of George Henry Durrie’s painting, New England Snow Scene. The winter-themed painting featured a craggy mount and a snow-covered farmhouse and stable in the background with an approaching traveler in a horse-drawn sleigh in the foreground. The actual painting had been acquired during Nixon’s presidency and hung on the second floor of the White House.

While the Fords traditionally sent photo Christmas cards depicting their entire family, they decided it might not be appropriate enough to serve as the official Christmas cards from the President. Instead, Hallmark reproduced an engraving inspired by English artist H. Brown entitled, The President’s House, Washington. The 1831 engraving depicted the White House in a pastoral setting with a French style garden in the foreground.

Each lithograph was printed on silk with a gold frame border and bounded by an additional green border. President Ford and the First Lady ordered 50,000 White House Christmas cards from Hallmark that year. The inside of each card contained an embossed Presidential Seal and the green engraved imprint, “With best wishes from our family for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, The President and Mrs. Ford.”

On December 17, President Ford lit the National Community Christmas Tree. The tree, a living 42-foot Colorado blue spruce from Pennsylvania, was decorated with energy conservation in mind. In his first Christmas greeting to the American people, the President mentioned that as a former National Park Service ranger and as someone concerned with environmental conservation, he was very pleased by the fact that his first National Christmas tree was a living one. He then went on to make an analogy between himself and the tree. He said, “That tree and I have a lot in common. Neither one of us expected to be in the White House a few months ago. Both of us were a little green, both of us were put on a pedestal. And I’d like to add this as a post-script – we’ve both been trimmed a little lately.”

In 1975, with America’s Bicentennial approaching, the Fords had he White House decorated the appropriately reflect Colonial times. With advisement from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation staff, Mrs. Ford had the White House Christmas tree decorated with 3,000 ornaments that evoked the style of Christmas decorations found in early American homes.

For their 1975 Christmas gift prints to the White House staff, the Fords selected another George Henry Durrie painting entitled, Farmyard in Winter. The original was purchased during Mrs. Nixon’s White House restoration project and hung in the Green Room. Durrie’s painting depicted a bucolic winterscape with a snow-covered farmhouse and cattle in the background along with a stark, barren tree in the foreground. The Fords ordered 5,000 Christmas gift prints to be reproduced by Hallmark.

President Ford and the First Lady were so enamored by Durrie’s work that they used the same painting for their official White House Christmas cards. Hallmark reproduced 35,000 Christmas cards, each depicting a lithograph of Durrie’s Farmyard in Winter and bounded by red foil.

On December 18, the President lit the National Community Christmas tree. To commemorate the Bicentennial, the living 42-foot Colorado blue spruce from Pennsylvania (the same tree from the year prior) was patriotically decorated with red, white, and blue ornaments and topped with a replica of the Liberty Bell. During the President’s annual Christmas greeting to the American people, Ford said, “As we enter American’s third century, let us make sure we carry with us out our abiding faith in the ultimate triumph of peace on earth and the living example of good will to all men and women.”

1976 was an election year. Ford ran for re-election, but was defeated by Democratic opponent, Jimmy Carter, making it his last Christmas in the White House. For their final Christmas decorating theme, Mrs. Ford focused on nature to enhance the Executive Mansion for the holiday season. The White House Christmas tree was embellished with 2,500 handmade flowers, representing the state flowers from all 50 states.

For their 1976 White House staff Christmas gift prints, the Fords gave reproductions of Ferdinand Richardt’s painting, Philadelphia in 1858. The actual painting, which hung in the Green Room, was purchased by Albert Nesle, friend of White House curator Clme Conger, from an estate auction in Hyberabad, India. Hallmark reproduced 5,000 Christmas gift prints along with accompanying protective folders for the Fords.

The President and Mrs. Ford liked the works of George Henry Durrie, so it was no surprise that they selected another one of his paintings for the design of their third and final White House Christmas cards. The painting, entitled Going to Church, depicted a white New England church with a pointed steeple in a bucolic setting with parishioners making their way to the door. The Fords had Hallmark produce 25,000 Presidential Christmas cards, each card bounded with a blue foil border.

The President lit his last National Community Christmas Tree on December 16. The living 45-foot Colorado blue spruce had deteriorated from use in the years prior, and additional branches were brought in to cover up the blemished parts. For his final Christmas greeting to the American people, President Ford spoke about peace as “…more than absence of battle. It is also the absence of prejudice and the triumph of understanding.”