President John F. Kennedy’s family spent two Christmases at the White House before his presidency and his life were cut short by his assassination in Dallas, Texas, in 1963.
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy established the tradition of selecting a theme for the official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room in 1961, her husband’s first year in office, modeling the tree decorations after “The Nutcracker” ballet.
President Kennedy was supposed to light the National Christmas Tree that year, following an older tradition established by Calvin Coolidge in 1923, but could not attend because his father had suffered a stroke.
The following year, he led the annual tree lighting ceremony.
“This has been a year of peril when the peace has been sorely threatened. But it has been a year when peril was faced and when reason ruled,” Kennedy said, against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War.
