Tis The Season

The White House has been decking the halls for Christmas since the mid 1850s, when President Franklin Pierce first brought a tree indoors for the holidays. In the 1890s, first lady Caroline Harrison helped decorate that year's tree, and a tradition was born.

The White House Christmas tree (in spite of the rumors, there are no generic "holiday" trees here) became official in 1929, during the Hoover administration, but it wasn't until the Kennedy administration that first ladies were charged with choosing an official decorating theme.

Caroline Kennedy takes a closer look at the official 1961 White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room. This was the first tree to have an official theme picked by the first lady; Jacqueline Kennedy decorated it with toys, birds, and angels inspired by "The Nutcracker Suite."

n 1962, President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy decorated the official tree with ornaments made by disabled and senior citizens. 

In 1965, first lady Lady Bird Johnson posed with the Blue Room with the White House Christmas Tree, which she had decorated in an "Early American" style with fruits, nuts, popcorn strings, and seed pods

When first lady Betty Ford decorated her patchwork-themed tree in 1974, she offered instructions so Americans could sew their own ornaments.

First lady Roselyn Carter decorated the 1978 White House Christmas tree with antique toys, dolls, and doll-house furniture from the collections of the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum in Rochester, N.Y

First lady Nancy Reagan gets cozy with a Santa-suit-clad Mr. T in 1983. That year, the tree was decorated with more than 2,000 old-fashioned toys and thousands of lights.

President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan posed near the 1988 White House Christmas Tree, which was decorated with hand-blown glass ornaments from the Eisenhower administration along with Nixon-era state flower balls; Mrs. Reagan also added 300 wooden candles handmade by the White House's carpenters. 

n 1990, first lady Barbara Bush decorated this Frasier fir from North Carolina with tiny porcelain dancers for another "Nutcracker Suite" themed Christmas Tree.

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First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton stands in the Blue Room in 1994. That year, the theme was "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and the ornaments were made by art students from across the United States.

First lady Laura Bush decorated the 2005 official White House Christmas tree with real lilies, crystal, and sparkling garlands. Her theme that year was "All things bright and beautiful."

President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush in front of the 2007 White House Christmas tree. Each of the 391 ornaments on the tree represented a different National Parks Service site.

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The theme that first lady Michelle Obama chose for the 2011 White House Christmas Tree is "Shine, Give, Share." It honors military veterans and is decorated with medals and badges from all four branches of the military, as well as with cards made by the children of service members.

And There you have it bloggers! Some pretty great looking trees over the years don't you think? 

Entire pictures and info was found here