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
Christmas in the post-war United States White House. On Christmas Eve, President Calvin Coolidge lit the 2,500 red, white and green electric bulbs on the tree. In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had the tree moved from the Ellipse to the White House grounds, where it remained until 1954 when it was returned to the Ellipse. In 1946, the lighting ceremony became a televised event, though not with widespread telecast. From 1948 to 1951, President Harry S. Truman signalled the lighting of the tree by remote control from his Independence, Missouri home, but in 1952, he stayed at the White House for the lighting ceremony. In