Wherever you are, there’s always a tree lighting event that has everyone in the town calling off work (or wishing they could) to admire the magnificent decorations. From downtown to your local town hall, these Christmas tree displays can be downright magical in all their bright, shining glory — and no tree lighting gets bigger buzz year after year than the annual National Christmas Tree lighting at the White House. Year after year and administration after administration, the President and First Lady have stepped out to take part in the December tradition, and photos of the rite of passage dating back to Gerald Ford are neat time capsules of what it looked like for the US to get into the holiday spirit each year.
It was President Calvin Coolidge who kicked off the very first White House tree lighting in 1923, and it’s been a tradition for nearly 100 years of American history since, though it wasn’t faithfully observed each and every year until decades later. In 1954, the Washington Board of Trade and the Washington Citizen’s Committee introduced a longer Christmas Pageant of Peace event focused around the tree lighting, adding an entertainment component that exists to this day.
Presidents over the decades have gone all out for the Christmas show, bringing in A-list performances, unique touches, and thousands of lights. From President Gerald Ford to most recently, President Joe Biden, check out some festive photos of the White House National Christmas Tree lighting over the years below!
A version of this article was originally published on Dec 2021.
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Gerald Ford
Image Credit: AP Photo/Bob Daugherty. Gerald and Betty Ford’s National Christmas tree came from Edward Cole of Mayville, Michigan. While Gerald sometimes helped, Betty was the one to literally deck all of the halls every Christmas with the best decorations.
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Jimmy Carter
Image Credit: AP Photo/ Mark Wilson. In 1980, Jimmy Carter lit the National Christmas Tree for only 417 seconds. This was a symbolic decision: each second symbolized one day that American hostages had been held in Iran.
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Ronald Reagan
Image Credit: AP Photo/Ira Schwarz. Almost every year he was in office, Ronald Reagan chose a Colorado blue spruce tree from Pennsylvania as the National Christmas Tree. And in 1981, due to concerns of an assassination, Reagan had to turn on the tree from a remote location.
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George H. W. Bush
Image Credit: AP Photo/Ron Edmonds. For the first time in nine years, George H.W. Bush lit the National Christmas Tree actually standing on the Ellipse, and the tree was adorned with over 5,000 lights.
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Bill Clinton
Image Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite. In 1995, Bill Clinton made sure that for the first time in history, the National Christmas Tree was lit by solar energy. And in 1996, repeat performer Willard Scott retired after decades of playing the Christmas Pageant of Peace Santa Claus.
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George W. Bush
Image Credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta. George W. and Laura Bush lit the tree with two children of victims of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. In 2003, they had 400 ornate ornaments wrapped around the National Christmas Tree.
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Barack Obama
Image Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak. Barack Obama continued the long-time tradition of having GE Lighting generously donate everything from the design, lights, and ornaments for the tree.
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Donald Trump
Image Credit: Photo by Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press(Sipa via AP Images). Every year that Donald Trump was in office, Melania Trump was the one to light the tree.
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Joe Biden
Image Credit: Photo by Sam Corum/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images. For Joe Biden’s tree lighting, students from across the country were told to make the ornaments — and it came out amazing.
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Joe Biden
Image Credit: Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images. For 2022, along with the big Christmas tree, there were 51 small illuminated trees for the US nations.
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Joe Biden
Image Credit: Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images. For the 2023 tree lighting, the theme was “White House: Magic, Wonder and Joy” and so many stars came to sing like Mickey Guyton, Reneé Rapp, St. Vincent, Joe Walsh and Dionne Warwick.
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