White House Christmas tree not ordered one by December 23. Additionally, other presidents never displayed a tree in the White House. First U.S. President George Washington held office at a time when there was no White House, thus it is impossible for him to have displayed a tree there. There is no evidence that Abraham Lincoln ever displayed a Christmas tree in the White House. In 1922 First Lady Florence Harding's illness led to a more subdued Christmas celebration at the White House and no Christmas tree. The official White House Christmas tree has several times been seen as controversial by some. In 1899
Jane Pierce First Lady at a New Year's Day reception in 1855 and thereafter served as White House hostess intermittently for the remainder of her husband's term ending in 1857. She died of tuberculosis at Andover, Massachusetts, on December 2, 1863. She was buried at Old North Cemetery in Concord, New Hampshire; her husband was interred there beside her in following his death in 1869. The Pierces had three children, all of whom died young: Jane Pierce Jane Means Appleton Pierce (March 12, 1806 – December 2, 1863), wife of U.S. President Franklin Pierce, was the First Lady of the United States