In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison brought even more sparkle to the season: the first documented White House Christmas Tree.
When this year's Christmas tree arrived at the White House just before Thanksgiving by horse-drawn wagon, the conveyance brought more than an evergreen: It also carried more than a century of history.
The 2025 tree - a majestic 18-foot concolor fir with silvery-blue needles from Michigan - is the first from that state in 40 years. This year's White House decorations, in accordance with first lady Melania Trump's theme, shine light on home and heart "with gold stars and ornaments representing the official bird and flower of every U.S. state and territory - a tribute to the resilience, bravery and sacrifice of our military personnel and their families," her office said.
Since 1966, the official White House Christmas Tree has come from tree farms that win a national competition held by the National Christmas Tree Association. White House staff then visit the champion grower's farm and select a tree with a perfectly balanced pyramid shape because, as White House Superintendent of Grounds Dale Haney put it, there's no "bad side" allowed with a tree that stands in the center of the Blue Room.
How Christmas at the White House became so celebrated
But how did the beloved tradition of Christmas trees at the executive mansion begin?
For most of the 1800s, White House Christmases were modest. Presidents and first ladies decorated with evergreen boughs and wreaths, celebrating privately with family and friends.
Then, in 1870, Christmas became a federal holiday. Displays grew across the country as department stores rolled out glittering window treatments and decorating became a more public affair.
In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison brought even more sparkle to the season: the first documented White House Christmas Tree. It stood upstairs in the residence's second floor Oval Room - then used as the family library and parlor - and was decorated with candles to the delight of his grandchildren.
A few years later, President Grover Cleveland’s family tree became the first to shine with electric lights, a dazzling new feature made possible by electrical wiring installed in 1891.
America's first family embraced the holidays
Children often played a starring role in White House Christmas history.
In 1902, Archie Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, secretly snuck a small Christmas tree into the White House and decorated it in his closet. (One popular myth suggests that Theodore Roosevelt "banned" Christmas trees at the White House, but there is little evidence to support this.) When Archie revealed the decorated tree to his family's delight, a new tradition began for the Roosevelts at the White House.
Ten years later, President William Howard Taft’s three young adult and teen children surprised cousins who were guests at the White House with a tree decorated while the president and first lady were away. The Taft children were the first to set it in the Blue Room on the state floor.
First family traditions continued to shape how Christmas trees were displayed in the White House. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s family, which included his mother and four generations at the holiday table, preferred old-fashioned candlelit trees. Longtime White House butler Alonzo Fields recalled in his memoir that the Roosevelts “always braved the hazards of fire by having a Christmas tree lighted with candles in the East Hall. The family tradition included reading of Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ by the president.”
Mamie Eisenhower launched the modern Blue Room tradition, consistently displaying a tree or several trees in the room.
In 1961, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy added a new layer of beauty and imagination to White House Christmases. She introduced decorative themes for holiday displays and set a precedent that continues each year as first ladies put their creative mark on the season. That first year, hers were modeled on the “Nutcracker Suite,” with the tree filled with toys, characters and angels from Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic.
First ladies have since carried forward the tradition of choosing themes in stunning and unique ways. Pat Nixon gave the evergreen a twist with her “American Flower Tree,” covered in ornaments representing each state’s official bloom. Rosalynn Carter featured antique toys and folk art. One of Barbara Bush’s themes included “Storybook Christmas” with popular children’s characters and tiny books as ornaments, in keeping with her year-round focus on literacy.
Laura Bush celebrated American homes, history and heritage with a “Red, White & Blue Christmas” in 2008. Michelle Obama invited communities nationwide to “Reflect, Rejoice, Renew” with ornaments that celebrated landmarks from Mount Rushmore to the Statue of Liberty. And just this month, Melania Trump introduced “Home Is Where The Heart Is,” illuminating “the heartfelt character of America within the People’s House,” her office detailed.
One recurring element in White House décor is the Official White House Christmas Ornament. Created by the White House Historical Association, it is also available for anyone to hang on their own trees at home.
This year's Official 2025 White House Christmas Ornament commemorates 150 years of White House state dinners, and this year is fittingly displayed in the State Dining Room.
From President Benjamin Harrison's second-floor family library shining with candlelight to the national contests and horse-drawn arrivals of the past six decades, the annual White House Christmas trees reflect America's history, creativity and national spirit.
May your days be happy, however you celebrate the season.
Stewart D. McLaurin is president of the White House Historical Association, a private nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961, and is director of The People's House: A White House Experience multimedia educational center and museum, which through Jan. 10 is featuring a special exhibit on Home, History, Holidays: Celebrating White House Traditions.