A Patriotic Christmas at The White House

East Room

First Lady Laura Bush took questions from the audience in the East Room.

The star-spangled garlands are infused with flag bunting, and red, white, and blue ornaments.

The 18th-century Italian terra cotta crèche has been displayed here each Christmas since Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. presented it to The White House in 1967.

The exquisite workmanship of the crèche is timeless.

Laura Bush thanked the chefs, White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford and White House Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses. 

Blue Room

Members of Congress were asked to identify artists to paint ornaments for the official White House Christmas Tree, which always stands in the Blue Room. The 369 ornaments identify “the unique patriotic spirit” of each artist’s state, district or territory. The tree is an 18 ½-foot tall Fraser fir from Jessie Davis and Russell Estes of River Ridge Tree Farms in Crumpler, NC

Washington Spaces Editor in Chief Trish Donnally and Senior Editor Jennifer Sergent enjoy The White House Christmas tree, which was lit by low energy LED lights.

The artists ranged from 8-year-old Katie Schools from Virginia, who painted a cardinal on her Christmas ornament, to a 90-year-old man from New York who painted Teddy Roosevelt on his.

Red Room

Known as the First Ladies’ Parlor, Mrs. Bush confessed that the Red Room is her favorite. “It’s such a dramatic room,” she said. And with good reason: A cranberry tree on a boxwood wreath sits on a table in front of the fireplace (a tradition that dates back to 1975), and the mantel is festooned with silver bells and sparkling red, white, and blue stars with banners that read “Liberty, Justice” across them.

Green Room

The green moire silk on the walls beautifully complement the silver decorations here. They include silver bald eagles that decorate the garland over the mantel and silver ball topiaries on the side tables.

State Dining Room

The gingerbread White House is made of 350 pounds of white chocolate and 125 pounds of gingerbread. “It really is architecturally correct. The capitals on the column are carved out of chocolate,” Mrs. Bush said. An edible fife and drum corps marching across the lawn of the gingerbread house and Mrs. Beazley, Barney, and Kitty, the family pets, were perched in a sleigh on the rooftop (but can’t be seen from this angle.).

A tasting of food that will be served at The White House holiday parties this month was served, including:

– American artisanal cheeses
– lobster salad
– shaved Virginia ham
– a salad of California avocados, grapefruit, and poached heart of palm

Desserts were out of this world, including:

• warm brioche bread pudding
• pecan pie
• red velvet cupcakes 
• coconut cake with seven minute frosting
• yule log

Passing the Torch

Mrs. Bush was generous with praise for all of The White House staff who made the glorious decorations happen, and who will continue to entertain thousands of guests at nonstop parties throughout the month. “I’m sad to leave all the people I’ve liked so much,” she said. She spoke with fondness about handing The White House over to the Obamas.

“I was able to assure Mrs. Obama that [the staff] will be waiting here to take care of them,” she said. She also described the tours she and President Bush gave to Michelle and Barack Obama when they visited the week after the election. “There was something very nostalgic about it. I remember so well taking the tour of The White House with Mrs. Clinton.”

That tour reminded Mrs. Bush to tell Mrs. Obama about the window in the First Lady’s dressing room, which looks out over the Rose Garden and into the Oval Office. “She can tell that to the next person who follows her,” Mrs. Bush said.

Meanwhile, she added, President Bush showed Barack Obama the little girls’ bedrooms, the closet and bathroom Obama will soon call his own, “and then they rushed upstairs to look at the gym!”

She ended her remarks by expressing optimism in America’s future despite the troubling economy and two wars abroad. “I hope and pray that we will, as time goes on, not live in a time of terrorism and security concerns,” she said. “There’s something great about the big ship America, and the security and stability of that big ship.”

The magnificent 1938 Steinway, supported by gold carved eagles, occupies pride of place in the Grand Foyer.

A trio of musicians played carols during the unveiling of The White House Christmas decorations.