![]() ![]() (Keep in mind that as late as the 1840s, most Americans viewed Christmas trees as pagan symbols the day itself was treated with great solemnity.) Legend has it that the fifteenth president, James Buchanan, had the first tree, but even that is disputed, with some sources saying Franklin Pierce had the first one in 1853. Prior to Roosevelt, Christmas trees were a fairly rare occurrence in the White House. While the Roosevelts’ lack of a tree was not a complete break in tradition-a holiday tree in the White House did not become established annual practice until the 1920s-it was still a notable exclusion. The incident is even the subject of a children’s book by Gary Hines which, though historical fiction, is no farther from (or closer to) the truth than the historical record as it now exists. Some versions of the story include dialogue between father and son, and some have the children involving Gifford Pinchot, the federal chief of forestry, to defend their actions. There’s a good deal of misinformation about how Theodore Roosevelt refused to allow a Christmas tree in the White House because of “environmental concerns.” A bit of research kept turning up variations on the story about the ban and how his son Archie smuggled one in against his father’s wishes, which provoked an angry reaction. (First published in 2008, this blog posted was updated in 2012 and, after finding the letters to his sisters on the Theodore Roosevelt Center’s website, again in 2016.) ![]()
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