The tradition of Presidents and their families adorning the White House and their Christmas trees for public consumption is a strange, albeit fascinating one. The whole Christmas decorating extravaganza that occurs on Pennsylvania Avenue each year tends to shed light on the taste and character of the “ladies” themselves.

The last of the great White House Christmas decor was in 1958, when Mamie Eisenhower pulled out all the stops, coating the premises with 27 electric candle and tinsel laden trees, including her signature “Mamie Pink” trees. Carols were piped into every room and greenery was wrapped around every column. In the 1960’s the dreaded “theme” Christmas trees appeared in the White House, the press anxiously awaiting news of the latest theme. In 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy jump started the themed tree with the “Nutcracker Suite”. Lady Bird Johnson had an Early American theme with traditional ornaments, nuts, fruit, popcorn, dried seedpods and paper mache angels – blech. Mrs. Nixon took her 1972 “gold” theme tree honoring the gilded tableware bought for the White House by James Monroe in 1817. Betty Ford’s emphasized thrift and recycling, using ornaments made by Appalachian women and senior citizen groups and an “old-fashioned children’s Christmas” where “experts” from Colonial Williamsburg adapted paper snowflakes, acorns, dried fruits, pinecones, vegetables, straw, cookies and yarn into ornaments. Rosalynn Carter’s tree featured painted milkweed pods, nut pods, foil and eggshell ornaments made by members of the National Association for Retarded Citizens. Sadly, Nancy Reagan chose themes for eight White House Christmas trees, including the positively inane “Mother Goose” tree. Barbara Bush had “The Saintly Stitchers of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church” in Houston, Texas help with the “needle work” tree, creating needlepoint villages and figures for a wooden Noah’s Ark  – barf. Hillary Clinton, probably in a coma of boredom,  celebrated  “The Year of American Craft,” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Poor, simple Laura Bush chose “Home for the Holidays”, “All Creatures Great and Small” and Michele Obama’s “Reflect, Rejoice, Renew “Shine, Give, Share”, blahblah, boringboringboring.

Here’s a sampling of the good, the bad and the ugly:

 

 

 

The Idiot adds tinsel to his christmas tree.