History of the National Christmas Tree

Woodrow Wilson lit the first National Tree on December 24, 1913 in the East Plaza of the US Capitol; the Washington Community Christmas Tree was lit for the first time. There was a small crowd estimated to be about 20,000 people viewing the event. The US Marine Band performed and was accompanied by a chorus of singers. While the Vice President, Thomas Marshal was the organizer, President Wilson took credit for the moving event.

Not until ten years later was the second White House Tree ceremoniously lit. In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit what he referred to as the "Community Christmas Tree" immediately south of the White House. Middlebury College in Vermont donated the tree. President Coolidge did not speak at the ceremony the tree was declared by one of the sponsors, the Greater Washington Board of Trade as the "National Christmas Tree" and thus a tradition was started and a tree was erected and lit year after year.

However in 1973 Richard Nixon started a sort of "green movement" by commissioning the movement of a live 42 foot tree transplanted from Pennsylvania to serve as a permanent National Tree. The tree was a Colorado Spruce. It was short lived as the tree died after the 1975 Christmas Season.

A new 30 foot Colorado blue spruce was transplanted in 1976 to again serve as a permanent tree. This tree was donated anonymously by a family from Maryland. However in another unfortunate situation, this tree was flattened by a gusty windstorm in 1978 and only served as the National Tree for one year.

In 1978 a new tree was donated by the Myers family from York, Pennsylvania and serves as the National Christmas tree yet today. It is presently being nurtured by the National Park Service horticulturist.

There were two years the National Tree remained unlit. During 1979 and 1980, the new tree was not lit except for one small ornament at the top of the tree. President Carter made choose not to do so in honor of the Americans being held hostage in Iran. In 1980, the National Broadcasters Association did sponsor a short lighting ceremony for 417 seconds, commemorating each day the hostages had been held in captivity. The American hostages were finally released on January 20, 1981, only minutes after Ronald Reagan's inauguration. The National Christmas Tree was quickly decorated and lighted as the plane carrying the former hostages cleared Iran's airspace.

Since that time, the National Christmas tree has been decorated and lighted year after year. The tradition is for the President to flip the switch to light the tree during an official ceremony that is nationally televised. The National Tree Lighting Ceremony Starts a month of holiday events and festivities named the "Pageant of Peace". It is the tradition for the Vice President's wife to place the star at the top of the tree with the help of the Chairman of the aforementioned pageant.
Some other changes have been made in recent years. With the trend toward emote green energy in 1995 the lights for the National Christmas Tree were powered by solar energy for the first time. Since 2007, the lights have been switched over to energy-saving LED lights. The tree's top star has since been refurbished with LED lights, as well.