White House Christmas tree what he claims he saw in the White House during the Clinton administration. The book, published by an established conservative publishing house, Regnery Publishing, states that the 1994 White House Christmas Tree was decorated with condoms and drug paraphernalia. George Stephanopoulos called the book a "work of fiction"; it has also been called "infamous". In 2008 one of the ornaments designed by a Seattle artist, Deborah Lawrence, was rejected for inclusion on the Blue Room Christmas Tree. The rejected ornament was a red and white striped ball with the words "Impeach Bush" emblazoned on it. The ornament was the only
Franklin Pierce expansion and a substantial reorganization of the military. Secretary of War Davis and Navy Secretary James C. Dobbin found the Army and Navy in poor condition, with insufficient forces, a reluctance to adopt new technology, and inefficient management. Under the Pierce administration, Commodore Matthew C. Perry visited Japan (a venture originally planned under Fillmore) in an effort to expand trade to the East. Perry wanted to encroach on Asia by force, but Pierce and Dobbin pushed him to remain diplomatic. Perry signed a modest trade treaty with the Japanese shogunate which was successfully ratified. The 1856 launch of the USS