President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalyn 1977-1981
When Jimmy Carter decided to run for the Presidential Election of 1976, it was quite a shock to most seeing as he had very little name recognition throughout the United States. But the Democrat Georgia governor campaigned in 37 states, gave 200 speeches, and even gave a private interview to Playboy magazine. Running against President Ford, Carter won the popular vote by 2.1% and earned 57 more votes in the Electoral College. On January 20, 1977, Jimmy Carter was sworn in as the 39th President of the United States – the first man from the Deep South to be elected President since the election of 1848.
![carter1977christmascard-300x189 First White House Christmas cards sent by President and Mrs. Carter in 1977](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/carter1977christmascard-300x189.jpg?w=200&h=126)
First White House Christmas cards sent by President and Mrs. Carter in 1977
![carterfamilyextended The extended Carter family wears personalized knit hats in this Christmas portrait.](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/carterfamilyextended.jpg?w=196&h=150)
The extended Carter family wears personalized knit hats in this Christmas portrait.
![carter1980christmascard-300x263 1980 White House Christmas cards from President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/carter1980christmascard-300x263.jpg?w=171&h=150)
1980 White House Christmas cards from President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter
![carter_tree1977 President and Mrs. Carter with daughter Amy in front of The White House Christmas Tree in 1977](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/carter_tree1977.jpg?w=500)
President and Mrs. Carter with daughter Amy in front of The White House Christmas Tree in 1977
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…”
Christmas 1979 Statement by the President
![carteramypushesbutton1979 First Daughter Amy Carter pushes the button for the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in 1979](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/carteramypushesbutton1979.jpg?w=500)
First Daughter Amy Carter pushes the button for the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in 1979
At this time of traditional joy and family festivity, as we join in thanking God for His blessings to us as a nation and as individuals, we ask that you offer a special prayer for the Americans who are being held hostage in Iran and for their families. We remember also the plight of all people, whatever their nationality, who suffer from injustice, oppression, hunger, war, or terrorism.
May this Christmas season truly be the beginning of a time of peace among nations and good will among all peoples, and may the spirit of love and caring continue from this holy season through the coming year.
~President Jimmy CarterPresident Ronald Regan and First Lady Nancy 1981-1989
First Lady Nancy Reagan chose the themes for eight White House Christmas’s. Her official 1981 Blue Room tree was trimmed in ornaments lent by the Museum of American Folk Art. For all the following years, she arranged for the people of Second Genesis, a drug treatment program in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, to help decorate her trees. In 1982, they made foil paper cones and metallic snowflakes. These were reused in 1983 on a tree featuring old-fashioned toys lent by the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum. In 1984, Second Genesis fashioned ornaments out of plant material to compliment natural pieces crafted by the Brandywine Museum in Pennsylvania.
For Christmas of 1985, the Reagan’s Executive Residence staff and Second Genesis made 1,500 ornaments from holiday cards sent to President Reagan in 1984. The residence staff and Second Genesis worked together for the next three holiday seasons.
![reganchristmastree2000 Dutchman Tree Farms provided the National Christmas Tree for President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/reganchristmastree2000.jpg?w=192&h=150)
Dutchman Tree Farms provided the National Christmas Tree for President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy
![Ronald_Reagan_WLGornament2004 The 2004 American President Collection Ronald Reagan Ornament](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ronald_reagan_wlgornament2004.jpg?w=150&h=150)
The 2004 American President Collection Ronald Reagan Ornament
![ME-TREEregan President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan stand in front of the White House Christmas Tree in 1987](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/reganchristmastree.jpg?w=500)
President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan stand in front of the White House Christmas Tree in 1987
Message on the Observance of Christmas 1988
![reaganpushesbutton1988 President Regan and First Lady Nancy push the button to light the National Christmas Tree in 1988](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/reaganpushesbutton1988.jpg?w=500)
President Regan and First Lady Nancy push the button to light the National Christmas Tree in 1988
There was no room at the inn for the Holy Family. Weary of travel, a young Mary close to childbirth and her carpenter husband Joseph found but the rude shelter of a stable. There was born the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace—an event on which all history would turn. Jesus would again be without a home, and more than once; on the flight to Egypt and during His public ministry, when He said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath no where to lay his head.” From His very infancy, on, our Redeemer was reminding us that from then on we would never lack a home in Him.
![Nancy Reagan White House Christmas 1987 First Lady Nancy Reagan and Santa aka Dom DeLuise, throw some artificial snow in the air during a press preview of White House decorations in 1987](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/reagannancydomdelouise.jpg?w=500)
First Lady Nancy Reagan and Santa aka Dom DeLuise, throw some artificial snow in the air during a press preview of White House decorations in 1987
As we come home with gladness to family and friends this Christmas, let us also remember our neighbors who cannot go home themselves. Our compassion and concern this Christmas and all year long will mean much to the hospitalized, the homeless, the convalescent, the orphaned—and will surely lead us on our way to the joy and peace of Bethlehem and the Christ Child Who bids us come. For it is only in finding and living the eternal meaning of the Nativity that we can be truly happy, truly at peace, truly home.
Merry Christmas, and God bless you!~President Ronald Regan
President Ronald Regan’s 1981 Christmas Greeting
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1984 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
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President George HW Bush and First Lady Barbara 1989-1993
First Lady Barbara Bush chose a theme of “family literacy” for the Blue Room tree of 1989. She had the Executive Residence staff create 80 soft-sculpture characters from literature. Tiny books completed the motif. In 1990, Mrs. Bush revisited “The Nutcracker” with little porcelain dancers. White House florists dressed the figurines, and a castle from the Land of Sweets was constructed by White House craftspeople. The Saintly Stitchers of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, joined with the staff on the “needle work” tree of 1991. They created a needlepoint village and 92 needlepoint figures for a wooden Noah’s Ark built by staff carpenters. For the 1992 tree theme of “Gift-Givers,” White House florists fashioned 88 different “gift-giving” characters.
![bushI1992whitehse_christcard 1992 George H.W. Bush White House Christmas Card](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/bushi1992whitehse_christcard.jpg?w=500)
1992 George H.W. Bush White House Christmas Card
They especially enjoyed celebrating Christmas at the White House with family and friends and the thousands of visitors who came each year to enjoy the beautiful Christmas sights and sounds with them. The First Lady added her own special touches to the holiday with her annual cherry picker ride to hang the star at the top of the National Christmas Tree, a trip she took 12 times beginning in the Reagan Administration as the wife of the Vice President.
![bushbarbara 1984PH2009120902459 In 1984, First Lady Barbara Bush, assisted by Joseph Riley, president of the Christmas Pageant of Peace committee, placed the top ornament on the national Christmas tree on the Ellipse](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/bushbarbara-1984ph2009120902459.jpg?w=200&h=140)
First Lady Barbara Bush
![bushIchristmastree1992 President and Mrs. Bush in front of the 1992 White House Christmas tree.](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bushichristmastree1992.jpg?w=500)
President and Mrs. Bush in front of the 1992 White House Christmas tree.
President Bush left 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.”
Message on the Observance of Christmas 1989
![BushFamilyUNICEFcard A Christmas card from...all the George Bushes...asking to Support UNICEF, date unknown](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/bushfamilyunicefcard.jpg?w=500)
A Christmas card from...all the George Bushes...asking to Support UNICEF, date unknown
Born into a family of a young carpenter and his wife, in a stable shared by beasts of the field, our Savior came to live among ordinary men. Yet, in time, the miraculous nature of this simple event became clear. Christ’s birth changed the course of history, bringing the light of hope to a world dwelling in the darkness of sin and death.
![george-barbara-bush-ring-bell-for-salvation-army President Bush and First Lady Barbara ring the Salvation Army bell](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/george-barbara-bush-ring-bell-for-salvation-army.jpg?w=500)
President Bush and First Lady Barbara ring the Salvation Army bell
As we gather with family and friends this season, let us recall what our Savior’s life means to the world. Let us also rededicate ourselves to sharing the love that gives greater meaning and joy to Christmas and to every moment of life.
Merry Christmas, and God bless you.
~President George HW BushPresident William J. Clinton and First Lady Hillary 1993-2001
Over her eight White House holiday seasons, First Lady Hillary Clinton showcased the talents of America’s artistic communities. Her 1993 “angels” theme coincided with “The Year of American Craft,” and the Blue Room tree was decked in 7,000 fiber, ceramic, glass, metal and wood angel ornaments. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” tree in 1994 displayed decorations by American art students. The 1995 “A Visit From St. Nicholas” tree featured pieces by architecture students and members of the American Institute of Architects. Stockings by the American Needlepoint Guild and the Embroiderers Guild of America also hung from its boughs. In 1996, woodcraft artisans and professional ballet companies helped bring “The Nutcracker” tree theme to life.
![Clinton_family copyc Clinton Family Portrait](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clinton_family-copyc.jpg?w=500)
Clinton Family Portrait
![clintonhillaryc First Lady Hillary Clinton poses with the gingerbread house in 1994](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clintonhillaryc.jpg?w=200&h=128)
First Lady Hillary Clinton poses with the gingerbread house in 1994
![1999ClintonsBlRoomxmastree_sml The Clintons in 1999](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/1999clintonsblroomxmastree_sml.jpg?w=500)
The Clintons in 1999
Going shopping at the malls, walking around and watching people always was a big part of Christmas for Bill Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea-but one tradition not easily carried out as a First Family of the Land. Though the Clintons were all “pretty crazy … about celebrating Christmas,” according to the First Lady, the new President’s ambitious agenda for the country absorbed most of their attention. When informed that plans for the official Christmas card needed to be fully under way by May, the First Lady responded, “Being the type who’s relieved if my tree is up and decorated by Christmas Eve, I was shocked to hear this.”
Even though planning for mistletoe and holly began during cherry blossom time, the task of choosing the design for the first official Christmas card was to present an unexpected challenge for the new administration. When the work of two artists was not accepted, and with time running short, photographer Neal Slavin came to the White House on Veterans Day to produce “instant art” depicting the President and First Lady posed before a decorated tree in the State Dining Room.Simultaneously, the Clintons commissioned contemporary figurative artist Thomas McKnight to do the art for the second year’s card. He showed up at the White House during Christmas 1993 and took lots of photographs. His unique style was to adorn the next three official Presidential cards in his renderings of the Red Room, Blue Room and Green Room. Artist Kay Jackson pleased the Clintons with her rendition of the White House at night for the 1997 Christmas card.
![clintongingerbreadhousec First Lady Hillary Clinton with the White House with the traditional gingerbread house in 1997](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clintongingerbreadhousec.jpg?w=500)
First Lady Hillary Clinton with the White House with the traditional gingerbread house in 1997
The 1993 White House gingerbread house was dubbed the “House of Socks,” in honor of the Clintons’ cat. Pastry chef Roland Mesnier outfitted the gingerbread house with 21 marzipan figures of Socks in various poses, including the cat hauling Santa’s sleigh, ice-skating, playing a “Soxaphone,” and posing as a Secret Service agent.
![clintongrandfoyertreec Clinton Grand Foyer Tree](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clintongrandfoyertreec.jpg?w=500)
Clinton Grand Foyer Tree
Also in the Grand Foyer, you will see the needlepoint “kissing ball” made by master needlepoint artist, Hyla Hurley of Washington, D.C. It is a miniature version of the tapestry which hangs in the First Family residence, and depicts the road to the White House, from the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock, via Monticello and a place called Hope.
Message on the Observance of Christmas 1996
![clintonspushbutton1996 President Clinton and First Lady Hillary at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clintonspushbutton1996.jpg?w=500)
President Clinton and First Lady Hillary at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony
Each year during this blessed season, the world pauses to look back across the centuries to the birth of a Child. This Child was born to poor but loving parents in the small town of Bethlehem—born into a world where few noticed His coming, except for some simple shepherds and a few wise men. He was the Son of God and the King of Kings, but He chose to come among us as servant and Savior.
Though two thousand years have passed since Jesus first walked the earth, much remains the same. Today’s world is still caught up in the challenges and cares of everyday existence, and too often we crowd God into the background of our experience. Too often we still ignore His loving presence in our lives and the precious gifts of peace and hope that He so freely offers to us all. And today, as on that first Christmas morning, He still reveals himself to the loving, the wise, and the simple of heart.
![clintonroanokechoir1996 The Roanoke College Children's Choir performed at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/clintonroanokechoir1996.jpg?w=500)
The Roanoke College Children's Choir performed at the 1996 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony
Hillary joins me in praying that the peace and joy of this holiday season will remain with you throughout the coming year. Merry Christmas, and God bless you.~President William J. Clinton
Aaliyah Singing What Child Is This for the Clinton’s at Christmas in Washington 1998
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President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura 2001-2008
Message on the Observance of Christmas 2001
Christmas is a time of wonder and joy, of generosity and peace, that brings family and friends together in celebration and song. We sing old hymns and familiar carols, we show love for others in the giving of gifts, and we observe the hallowed traditions that make the season special. This year in the midst of extraordinary times, our Nation has shown the world that though there is great evil, there is a greater good. Americans have given of themselves, sacrificing to help others and showing the spirit of love and sharing that is so much a part of the Christmas season.
![bushgwchristmastree_getty203](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/bushgwchristmastree_getty203.jpg?w=500)
President Bush and the First Lady In front of the White House Christmas Tree December 2007
This Christmas we remember those who are without their loved ones. They continue to be in our hearts and prayers. May they experience peace, and may they find hope. And as we again celebrate Christ’s birth, may the glorious light of God’s goodness and love shine forth from our land.
Laura joins me in wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May God’s blessings of peace be upon us and upon the world.~George W. Bush
![bushlaurachristmascard2008artist Laura Bush introduces Christmas card artist T. Allen Lawson and his work during a media preview in 2008.](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/bushlaurachristmascard2008artist.jpg?w=500)
First Lady Laura Bush introduces Christmas card artist T. Allen Lawson and his work during a media preview in 2008.
For 2002, Mrs. Bush adopted the theme of “All Creatures Great and Small.” As an animal lover, she wanted to highlight the history and importance of pets in the White House. Perched on the boughs of the official tree are finely crafted representatives of America’s favorite birds. The tree stands in the oval Blue Room, an elegant space most often honored as the official center of holiday splendor in the White House.
The White House was closed to visitors for George and Mrs. Bush’s first Christmas in the Executive Mansion. Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. changed the way many things were done in post 9/11 America.
In the Nov. 29, 2007, file photo above, an ornament honoring the Flight 93 National Monument hangs on the White House Christmas Tree during in the Blue Room at the White House during the presidency of George W. Bush.
![bushI 2001 card Official 2001 Christmas Card](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/bushi-2001-card.jpg?w=500)
Official 2001 Christmas Card
Adrian Martinez, an artist from Downingtown, PA, was chosen to paint the interior scene that graced the Bush’s first official card. The story of his youth and how he was selected makes for interesting reading in “Season’s Greetings from the White House.” The card featured the Second Floor Corridor of the White House with Mary Cassatt’s 1908 painting, Young Mother and Two Children. Mrs. Bush selected the Psalm for the card on September 16. At Camp David, the chaplain based his sermon on the Psalm, which was outlined in the lectionary for that September Sunday.
![barneycam16_screen_grab First Lady Laura Bush, with Barney and Miss Beazley, in the 2008 Barney Cam video.](https://the44diaries.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/barneycam16_screen_grab.jpeg?w=500)
First Lady Laura Bush, with Barney and Miss Beazley, in the 2008 Barney Cam video.
What started out in 1953 with President Eisenhower sending out 1000 White House Christmas cards, by the 21st century, had turned into a behemoth. In 2008, President Bush and the First Lady Laura sent 2.25 million cards to friends and associates.
President Bush Attends Lighting of the National Christmas Tree 2006
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Bush White House Christmas Party in 2008
President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush welcomed the children of servicemen to the White House for a Christmas party.
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A Very Barney Christmas in 2008
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First Lady Laura Bush Discusses White House Christmas Decorations in 2008
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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle 2009-
President Barack H. Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African-American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii. Obama previously served as the junior United States Senator from Illinois from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008.
Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.
Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he ran for United States Senate in 2004. During the campaign, several events brought him to national attention, such as his victory in the March 2004 Democratic primary election for the United States Senator from Illinois as well as his prime-time televised keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004.
Obama began his run for the presidency in February 2007. After a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Clinton, he won his party’s nomination. In the 2008 general election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Obama is the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Please CLICK the symbol below to check out how the Obama’s are celebrating their first Christmas in the White House!
A special note of thanks goes to our friends at White House Christmas Cards, for allowing us to use some of their outstanding research material as part of this presentation. If you are interested in a more in-depth study of Christmas in the White House, we highly recommend you visit their site.