I've been doing some research on some historical Christmas stories that I hope to write about in December, and in the process I came across one about how Theodore Roosevelt banned Christmas trees in the White House.
According to the Forest History Society, it's not just the subject internet myths and lore. It's even been the topic of a TV show and a children's book. The story goes that Roosevelt was such a big conservationist who feared deforestation so much that even allowing his family to put up a Christmas tree in the White House was just too much for him.
The stories also suggest that his mischievous young sons, Archie and Quentin, defied his orders and snuck a tree in one year. They even supposedly enlisted Gifford Pinchot, the federal chief of forestry, to plead their case, which led to a confrontation between the president and his boys.
So, is any of it true? Not exactly.
According to the Forest Historic Society, there is no actual proof. The story was most likely born out of someone taking a few facts and embellishing them to create an urban legend. For what it's worth, while doing my own research I found that websites that promote climate change alarmism also promoted this myth, so do with that what you will.
The White House Historical Association confirms that the Roosevelts did not put up a Christmas tree, but it wasn't to make a political or environmental statement. It was simply how they did things as a family. They focused more on attending a church service, giving out gifts, and enjoying a holiday meal together. There's also the fact that having a White House Christmas tree didn't become an official tradition until well after Teddy was out of office, even though some, not all, presidents before him had one.
What does appear to be true is that in 1902, when young Archie was just eight years old, he did sneak a tree into the White House and kept it upstairs in a closet. He supposedly had White House staff members help him find lights and ornaments, and he added a gift for each of his family members, including the Roosevelts' pets. On Christmas morning, he finally shared the surprise with his family, who were delighted by it. The president even let his children continue the tradition after that.
Here's what Roosevelt wrote in a letter to a friend about that Christmas:
Yesterday Archie got among his presents a small rifle from me and a pair of riding boots from his mother. He won’t be able to use the rifle until next summer, but he has gone off very happy in the riding boots for a ride on the calico pony Algonquin, the one you rode the other day. Yesterday morning at a quarter of seven all the children were up and dressed and began to hammer at the door of their mother’s and my room, in which their six stockings, all bulging out with queer angles and rotundities, were hanging from the fireplace. So their mother and I got up, shut the window, lit the fire (taking down the stockings of course), put on our wrappers and prepared to admit the children. But first there was a surprise for me, also for their good mother, for Archie had a little birthday tree of his own which he had rigged up with the help of one of the carpenters in a big closet; and we all had to look at the tree and each of us got a present off of it. There was also one present each for Jack the dog, Tom Quartz the kitten, and Algonquin the pony, whom Archie would no more think of neglecting that I would neglect his brothers and sisters. Then all the children came into our bed and there they opened their stockings
According to the White House Historical Association, many of our nation's first families from the nineteenth century kept Christmas as a low-key private affair with their own friends and families. While some decorated the White House, they did so with simple greenery and wreaths, rarely a Christmas tree.
The first verified tree was placed by Benjamin Harrison's staff in 1889 to appease his grandchildren. After that, it wasn't until 1923 that President Calvin Coolidge presided over the first National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower started the tradition of having a Christmas tree in the White House's Blue Room, and every first lady who followed has kept it up.
And on that note, I'll leave you with a video of our current first lady, Melania Trump, welcoming this year's White House Christmas Tree last week.
First Lady Melania Trump receives the 2025 White House Christmas Tree 🌲 pic.twitter.com/exxZAN5Qf6
— Office of the First Lady (@FirstLadyOffice) November 24, 2025
