Christmas became a national holiday in 1870. In 1889, the first
indoor decorated Christmas tree was placed in the White House,
and in 1895, electric lights were added. In 1923, the first
National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony was held. In 1953, the
first White House Christmas card was created by President Dwight
Eisenhower who was also an artist/painter. President Kennedy’s
1963 Christmas card was the first to include an explicitly
Christian aspect: the nativity. In 1982, Ronald Reagan said, “My
fellow Americans, the Christmas and Hanukkah decorations are up
around the country, and in a moment we’ll be lighting the
National Christmas Tree here in the Nation’s Capital… Some
celebrate the day as marking the birth of a great and good man,
a wise teacher and prophet, and they do so sincerely. But for
many of us, it’s also a holy day, the birthday of the Prince of
Peace, a day when ‘God so loved the world, that He sent us His
only begotten son to assure forgiveness of our sins.’” (John
3:16) In 2001, the first