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
Pierce-Klingle Mansion Pierce-Klingle Mansion Pierce-Klingle Mansion, also known as Linnaean Hill, is a historic house in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. It has been listed on the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites since 1964 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is a contributing property in the Rock Creek Park Historic District. Joshua Pierce built the house in 1823 and named it Linnaean Hill after Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist. Pierce, himself a horticulturist, introduced the box garden to Washington and supplied the first ornamental plantings to the White House, United States