Richard Nixon at Christmas
When President Richard Milhous Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon celebrated their first Christmas in the White House in 1969, they began a tradition of gifting Presidential portraits to their staff members. That year they gave reproductions of Gilbert Stuart’s famous portrait of George Washington. The Hallmark company was contracted to produce 3,500 colored prints. Each print was matted and contained a gold plaque with the inscription, “George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, The White House Collection from The President and Mrs. Nixon, Christmas 1969.” The Washington keepsakes were than encased in red velour folders, each folder embossed with the Presidential Coat of Arms and accompanied by a gold-inscribed parchment cover sheet describing the portrait.
Hallmark also customized a design for the Nixons' first White House Christmas card. It featured an embossed engraving of the south view of the White House on a cream colored stock bounded with a red and gold border. Hallmark printed 40,000 White House Christmas cards for President Nixon and the First Lady, most of which were sent to heads of government, business associates, and friends.
On December 16, 1969, with Mrs. Nixon and daughter Tricia at his side, the President lit his first National Community Christmas Tree. The tree, a 75-foot Norway spruce from Glen Falls, New York, was illuminated by 9,000 red and white lights. Speaking over 200 rowdy anti-war protesters, the President discussed a new era of peace in his first official Christmas greeting to the American people. He said, "As we light this nation’s Christmas tree, our wish, our prayer, is for peace, the kind of peace that exists not just of now but that gives a chance for our children also to live in peace.” As he spoke over the chants of protesters, his words were carried across the globe via satellite.
In 1970, the subject of the Christmas Presidential portrait was a French Neoclassical-style painting of Thomas Jefferson done by Rembrandt Peale. Hallmark reproduced 4,000 gift prints, which were to be given as Christmas gifts to the White House staff. Each print was enclosed in a green velour folder and complemented by a parchment page explaining the significance of the portrait. The page also contained the greeting, “With our best wishes, the President and Mrs. Nixon at Christmas 1970.” In the corridor of the East Wing, Mrs. Nixon had two cases assembled to display Presidential Christmas cards of past and present as well as other Christmas-related memorabilia. Some of the items on display included Eisenhower’s Presidential Christmas cards, Christmas cards received by Rutherford B. Hayes, a red fire engine from the Hoover era, and a doll house made for Hayes’ daughter, Fanny.
On a cold and rainy December 16 of 1970, President Nixon lit the 78-foot spruce from the Black Hills of South Dakota. He chose a young boy from the audience to help him light up the 6,000 blue, green, and yellow bulbs. Unlike the ceremony from the year prior, there were no shouts and chants coming from anti-war protesters. Instead, the President said to the American people in his annual Christmas greeting that, “We can look forward with assurance to the end of the war.”
For Christmas of 1971, the Nixons gave reproductions of George Healy’s portrait of Abraham Lincoln to their White House staff members. Each gift print was protected by a royal blue velour cover that included a message about the historic painting. Each keepsake was also imprinted with the greeting, “With our best wishes, The President and Mrs. Nixon at Christmas 1971.” That year, while Nixon was in Key Biscayne, Florida, Vice President Spiro Agnew lit the National Community Christmas Tree on a warm December 16.
Nixon ran for re-election in 1972. He won the election and continued his theme of past Presidents’ portraits, The Nixons gave a reproduction of a 1903 Theodore Roosevelt portrait done by John Singer Sargent. Nixon had the Roosevelt Room created to honor the subject of that year's portrait. The President and First Lady also gave each staff member a marble paperweight with a red, white, and blue brass Presidential Seal and an inscribed plate marking the year. Mrs. Nixon also gave to her female staff members a chatelaine pin and cuff links to the men. On December 16, for the second year in a row, the Vice President lit the National Community Christmas Tree.
Nixon selected James Monroe as the subject of his 1973 Christmas gift print, Mr. and Mrs. Nixon gave reproductions of Samuel F. B. Morse’s Monroe portrait from 1820. Hallmark placed each gift print in a white velour folder with an accompanying description sheet. Each reproduction was imprinted with the greeting, “With our best wishes, the President and Mrs. Nixon at Christmas 1973.” In celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Community Christmas Tree-lighting ceremony, President Nixon lit the tree on December 14 with the help of a Boy Scout and a Girl Scout. For the first time since 1954, a live tree was planted on the Ellipse. The 42-foot Colorado blue spruce from Pennsylvania was donated by the National Arborist Association. With a major energy crisis taking place, the White House reduced the energy consumption of lighting the tree by almost 82%. Instead of using thousands of lights, the tree was decorated primarily with garlands and balls.
In his 1973 Christmas greeting to the American people, President Nixon talked about the impending energy crisis. He said, “This year we will drive a little slower. This year the thermostats will be a little lower. This year every American perhaps will sacrifice a little, but no one will suffer.”
1973 would be Nixon's last Christmas as President. The Watergate scandal resulted in Nixon’s resignation on the evening of August 8, 1974.
Hallmark also customized a design for the Nixons' first White House Christmas card. It featured an embossed engraving of the south view of the White House on a cream colored stock bounded with a red and gold border. Hallmark printed 40,000 White House Christmas cards for President Nixon and the First Lady, most of which were sent to heads of government, business associates, and friends.
On December 16, 1969, with Mrs. Nixon and daughter Tricia at his side, the President lit his first National Community Christmas Tree. The tree, a 75-foot Norway spruce from Glen Falls, New York, was illuminated by 9,000 red and white lights. Speaking over 200 rowdy anti-war protesters, the President discussed a new era of peace in his first official Christmas greeting to the American people. He said, "As we light this nation’s Christmas tree, our wish, our prayer, is for peace, the kind of peace that exists not just of now but that gives a chance for our children also to live in peace.” As he spoke over the chants of protesters, his words were carried across the globe via satellite.
In 1970, the subject of the Christmas Presidential portrait was a French Neoclassical-style painting of Thomas Jefferson done by Rembrandt Peale. Hallmark reproduced 4,000 gift prints, which were to be given as Christmas gifts to the White House staff. Each print was enclosed in a green velour folder and complemented by a parchment page explaining the significance of the portrait. The page also contained the greeting, “With our best wishes, the President and Mrs. Nixon at Christmas 1970.” In the corridor of the East Wing, Mrs. Nixon had two cases assembled to display Presidential Christmas cards of past and present as well as other Christmas-related memorabilia. Some of the items on display included Eisenhower’s Presidential Christmas cards, Christmas cards received by Rutherford B. Hayes, a red fire engine from the Hoover era, and a doll house made for Hayes’ daughter, Fanny.
On a cold and rainy December 16 of 1970, President Nixon lit the 78-foot spruce from the Black Hills of South Dakota. He chose a young boy from the audience to help him light up the 6,000 blue, green, and yellow bulbs. Unlike the ceremony from the year prior, there were no shouts and chants coming from anti-war protesters. Instead, the President said to the American people in his annual Christmas greeting that, “We can look forward with assurance to the end of the war.”
For Christmas of 1971, the Nixons gave reproductions of George Healy’s portrait of Abraham Lincoln to their White House staff members. Each gift print was protected by a royal blue velour cover that included a message about the historic painting. Each keepsake was also imprinted with the greeting, “With our best wishes, The President and Mrs. Nixon at Christmas 1971.” That year, while Nixon was in Key Biscayne, Florida, Vice President Spiro Agnew lit the National Community Christmas Tree on a warm December 16.
Nixon ran for re-election in 1972. He won the election and continued his theme of past Presidents’ portraits, The Nixons gave a reproduction of a 1903 Theodore Roosevelt portrait done by John Singer Sargent. Nixon had the Roosevelt Room created to honor the subject of that year's portrait. The President and First Lady also gave each staff member a marble paperweight with a red, white, and blue brass Presidential Seal and an inscribed plate marking the year. Mrs. Nixon also gave to her female staff members a chatelaine pin and cuff links to the men. On December 16, for the second year in a row, the Vice President lit the National Community Christmas Tree.
Nixon selected James Monroe as the subject of his 1973 Christmas gift print, Mr. and Mrs. Nixon gave reproductions of Samuel F. B. Morse’s Monroe portrait from 1820. Hallmark placed each gift print in a white velour folder with an accompanying description sheet. Each reproduction was imprinted with the greeting, “With our best wishes, the President and Mrs. Nixon at Christmas 1973.” In celebrating the 50th anniversary of the National Community Christmas Tree-lighting ceremony, President Nixon lit the tree on December 14 with the help of a Boy Scout and a Girl Scout. For the first time since 1954, a live tree was planted on the Ellipse. The 42-foot Colorado blue spruce from Pennsylvania was donated by the National Arborist Association. With a major energy crisis taking place, the White House reduced the energy consumption of lighting the tree by almost 82%. Instead of using thousands of lights, the tree was decorated primarily with garlands and balls.
In his 1973 Christmas greeting to the American people, President Nixon talked about the impending energy crisis. He said, “This year we will drive a little slower. This year the thermostats will be a little lower. This year every American perhaps will sacrifice a little, but no one will suffer.”
1973 would be Nixon's last Christmas as President. The Watergate scandal resulted in Nixon’s resignation on the evening of August 8, 1974.