Who had the first Christmas tree in the White House? Who had the first menorah? And when did we start the tradition of FLOTUS choosing a Christmas theme? All that and more in this short episode about celebrating the season at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Click here to see photos of all the First Lady’s themes since 1961!
Transcript
[00:00:00] Civics 101 is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
Nick Capodice: [00:00:03] Hannah Holy Cats. It's been a crazy year. Today, I just want to take a little break.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:11] Take a holiday, you know.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:12] And that's what we're going to do today. You're listening to Civics 101. I'm jolly old, not St Nick Capodice.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:18] And I'm just regular old Hannah McCarthy.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:21] And today we're going to talk about the history of Christmas and Hanukkah at the White House. Can I can I put Sleigh Ride in here? Is sleigh ride in the Creative Commons? Are we going to get sued? The sounds a little like Sleigh Ride.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:31] Ok, let's kick it off with the Hanukkah. How long have we celebrated the eight days of light in the White House?
Nick Capodice: [00:00:38] Both recently and not so recently. Do you want to guess the first president with a Hanukkah story?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:44] I think I know this one.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:45] Who is it?
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:45] I think it's Jimmy Carter.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:49] Is it?
Nick Capodice: [00:00:50] Well, kind of. It's George Washington.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:00:52] No way.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:53] In Valley Forge.
Nick Capodice: [00:00:55] It's a second hand account, but it is a credible one. There was a soldier who is sitting apart from the others. He was huddled over two small candles, and when Washington asked him about it, and he told him all about the holiday. And from that account, the general was, quote, warmed by the inspiration of those little flames and the knowledge that miracles are possible.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:14] That's really lovely.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:16] And then, yes, Jimmy Carter, we have, then we have 200 years of just Christmas at the White House. Jimmy Carter 1979 was the first president to acknowledge the holiday, giving remarks and lighting the menorah at Lafayette Park. Since then, every president has participated in a menorah lighting ceremony. But Bill Clinton was the first president to have one in the White House itself in 1993 where this happened.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:01:40] Oh, what is that?
Nick Capodice: [00:01:43] That is a young girl's hair catching on fire on the menorah. And the president snuffed it out with his bare hands.
Nick Capodice: [00:01:52] And I know we're focusing on Hanukkah and Christmas, but I just have to touch on one other significant Jewish holiday. Barack Obama is the first and so far only sitting president to host a Passover Seder in the White House.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:04] All right. Let's move on to Christmas. We said on many a trivia night that Franklin Pierce was the first president to have a Christmas tree.
Nick Capodice: [00:02:13] So wrong.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:14] Really,
Nick Capodice: [00:02:15] It's wrong. We were wrong. Hosting trivia was wrong. I read that, too. But it is disputed. By the way, the Wikipedia page on White House Christmas trees is hilariously edited. It says that Pierce might have had the first Christmas tree, but it can't be certified. And then it says you shouldn't be using Wikipedia as a source. But we do know that Benjamin Harrison had the first indoor tree in the late 1880s. So we'll go with that. And after that, some presidents had one, some presidents didn't. William McKinley was urged by a newspaper editorials to not get one because it was un-American. Trees inside the house are a German tradition. It was unpatriotic.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:02:53] That's right, O Tannenbaum. Let's get to the modern day tradition, which I believe was that by Jackie Kennedy, where the first lady is in charge of choosing a theme for the White House Christmas tree.
Nick Capodice: [00:03:04] Sure. So while Mamie Eisenhower was the first to traditionally put the tree in the Blue Room, as you said, Jackie Kennedy started the theme tradition. She chose a Nutcracker theme for that first one in 1961. And every first lady thereafter has chosen a theme. There are so many they're, so wonderful, we're going to put a link to all the themes on our website. Quick standouts are Lady Bird Johnson's Gingerbread Tree in 1968, Michelle Obama's Military Badges and Medals Tree in 2011. And my personal favorite, lest we forget, Pat Nixon 1973 with the theme of James Monroe. And as to the tree itself, there is a national competition held every year by the National Christmas Tree Association, the champion of which gets to put it in the Blue Room.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:03:52] Last thing. What about Christmas parties?
Nick Capodice: [00:03:55] John Adams had the first White House Christmas party in 1800 and they've just continued to happen ever since and were just about to jump into a new administration. So who knows what the next Christmas tree theme is going to be? Who knows how holidays are going to change at the White House. But after doing this research for this, I am just full of holiday anticipation. Happy holidays.
Hannah McCarthy: [00:04:15] Happy holidays.
Nick Capodice: [00:04:16] And if you have a question that's not about Christmas trees, you can submit it to our Web site, Civics101podcast.org.
