White House Christmas tree Henry Hoover began the tradition of presidential wives decorating the White House tree with the first "official" White House Christmas tree in 1929. In 1961 First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy began the tradition of selecting a theme for the White House Christmas tree by decorating with a Nutcracker motif. As stated, there were years where no indoor White House Christmas tree was installed at all. It is verifiable that there was no Christmas tree in the White House in 1902, 1904, 1907, and 1922. The lack of a tree in 1902 was due to the fact that President Theodore Roosevelt had
White House Hanukkah Party In addition to continuing the tradition of the White House Hanukkah Party, the Obamas hosted and attended the White House Passover Seder, the first Passover Seder conducted by a sitting US president in the White House. The Seder was originally conducted by three Jewish staffers working on Obama's presidential campaign in 2008, who were surprised when the president tracked them down and joined them – but it became an annual event for all eight years of Obama's administration. Additionally, on May 27, 2010, the Obamas hosted the first White House reception for Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM), an annual, month-long