Critics complained 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. Representative Henry Brown, a Republican from South Carolina, went so far as to introduce 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 resolution.
A White House spokesperson indicated that no slight was intended and that the first 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. The spokesman also pointed out that George W. Bush had 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.”
On November 27, 2009, the day after Thanksgiving, first lady Michelle Obama and 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. The tree arrived on a horse-drawn carriage, 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, the first family 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 added 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, in an interview 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.