White House Christmas Trees
Franklin Pierce was the first President to have a Christmas tree in the White House. Pierce's 1856 Christmas tree was put up for the enjoyment of the Sunday School students from the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington. On Christmas Day in 1856 President Pierce passed out gifts around the tree] to the children, according to the book We Were Marching on Christmas Day by Kevin Rawlings. Pierce and his wife Jane had had three sons,all of whom died in childhood, never seeing their father become president. The tree was put up as Pierce was preparing to vacate the White House for incoming James Buchanan.
But the tradition didn't catch on until over 30 years later. According to author Linda Riggins, the first Christmas tree put up for the joy of a president's immediate family was in 1889 during the administration of Benjamin Harrison. Among the young Harrison relatives present were the two children of Harrison's daughter Mary and her husband James Robert McKee and the daughter of his son Russell and his wife. Also present, according to longtime White House employee William H. Crook, were Mrs. Mary Scott Dimmick, Mrs. Harrison's niece, and the Reverend Dr. Scott, Mrs. Harrison's father. President Harrison called on Henry Pfister, the White House's head gardener, to put up the tree. On Christmas Eve afternoon all of the children were not allowed in the combination family room and library on the second floor, while Pfister and his staff went to work creating a tree thick with decorations and token gifts for the First Family's younger members and for members of the White House office staff as well. Late on Christmas Eve, President Harrison himself pitched in to help decorate. The room in which the tree stood was adorned with holly, ferns and mistletoe, according to an article on the White House Historical Association's website.
Beginning with the Harrisons, it became customary to have a Christmas tree in the White House. But the tradition did not sit well with ardent conservationist Theodore Roosevelt. He thought that the cutting down of trees for use at Christmas led to deforestation.Roosevelt forbade Christmas trees in the White House. One Christmas two of Teddy's sons secretly brought in a tree and hid it in a closet. Division of Forestry chief Gifford Pinchot, a dedicated conservationist and Roosevelt confidant, defended the cutting down of trees for Christmas. Pinchot argued that doing so helped thin the forest, but Roosevelt was not won over. After that first Christmas tree made its way into the Roosevelt White House, the president let his son Archie put up a holiday tree annually in his room. However, the White House tried to keep this news out of the newspapers.
But the tradition didn't catch on until over 30 years later. According to author Linda Riggins, the first Christmas tree put up for the joy of a president's immediate family was in 1889 during the administration of Benjamin Harrison. Among the young Harrison relatives present were the two children of Harrison's daughter Mary and her husband James Robert McKee and the daughter of his son Russell and his wife. Also present, according to longtime White House employee William H. Crook, were Mrs. Mary Scott Dimmick, Mrs. Harrison's niece, and the Reverend Dr. Scott, Mrs. Harrison's father. President Harrison called on Henry Pfister, the White House's head gardener, to put up the tree. On Christmas Eve afternoon all of the children were not allowed in the combination family room and library on the second floor, while Pfister and his staff went to work creating a tree thick with decorations and token gifts for the First Family's younger members and for members of the White House office staff as well. Late on Christmas Eve, President Harrison himself pitched in to help decorate. The room in which the tree stood was adorned with holly, ferns and mistletoe, according to an article on the White House Historical Association's website.
Beginning with the Harrisons, it became customary to have a Christmas tree in the White House. But the tradition did not sit well with ardent conservationist Theodore Roosevelt. He thought that the cutting down of trees for use at Christmas led to deforestation.Roosevelt forbade Christmas trees in the White House. One Christmas two of Teddy's sons secretly brought in a tree and hid it in a closet. Division of Forestry chief Gifford Pinchot, a dedicated conservationist and Roosevelt confidant, defended the cutting down of trees for Christmas. Pinchot argued that doing so helped thin the forest, but Roosevelt was not won over. After that first Christmas tree made its way into the Roosevelt White House, the president let his son Archie put up a holiday tree annually in his room. However, the White House tried to keep this news out of the newspapers.