White House Christmas tree the White House of President William McKinley received letters urging the president to forgo participation in the "Christmas tree habit". The letter writers, which the "Chicago Daily Tribune" noted had taken up the "forestry fad", referred to "arboreal infanticide", according to the "Tribune". Those opposed to a tree in the White House that year also termed Christmas trees "un-American" because it was a historically German tradition. At least one tree was displayed in the White House that year, in the kitchen department, for the maids. The Nixon administration's choice of tree topper, the atomic symbol of peace rather than a
Franklin Pierce Rice Franklin Pierce Rice Franklin Pierce Rice (1852–1919) was a self-taught printer and publisher who transcribed and printed and preserved vital records from Massachusetts and was a co-founder of the Worcester Society of Antiquity. Franklin Pierce Rice was born 29 July 1852 in Marlborough, Massachusetts as the only son of Minot Rice and Mary Berry (Felton) Rice. He received his elementary education from his mother, and did not enter public school until he was eleven years old. After completion of his preparatory studies, he intended to enter the medical profession so he began the study of chemistry, anatomy and physiology; however