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
Benjamin Pierce (governor) inherited through primogeniture. His eldest son, Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, succeeded him as a member in the society in 1841. He was then succeeded by his younger brother, future president Franklin Pierce in 1852, and was later succeeded by Benjamin's youngest son, Henry Dearborn Pierce in 1873. Benjamin Pierce (governor) Benjamin Pierce (December 25, 1757 – April 1, 1839) was a colonial soldier in the American Revolution and an American Democratic-Republican politician. He was the father of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States. He served as Governor of New Hampshire from 1827 to 1828 and from 1829 to