Presidents Day is always one of the most popular days at the Nixon Library but this year we made history with the first West Coast unveiling of the Official 2022 White House Christmas Ornament. The ornament celebrates the White House traditions of the 37th President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon. The iconic gingerbread design pays homage to the fact that the official White House gingerbread house became an annual Christmas tradition during the Nixon administration when, in 1969, Mrs. Nixon asked Assistant Executive Chef Hans Raffert to create a gingerbread house to display prominently in the State Dining Room. Other treasured Christmas traditions established by Mrs. Nixon included introducing poinsettia trees to the holiday décor, resurrecting the tradition of hanging wreaths in each of the windows facing Pennsylvania Avenue and initiating Christmas candlelight tours.
Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association and Jim Byron, President of the Richard Nixon Foundation joined five presidential impersonators and Nixon Foundation Board Member Christopher Nixon Cox in a countdown to reveal the design of this year’s ornament.
Event attendees from a packed East Room were able to be among the first to purchase the ornament which comes presented as a beautifully gift-boxed keepsake with a gingerbread scented booklet and recipe card featuring a gingerbread recipe from First Lady Pat Nixon’s time at the White House. In honor of Presidents Day, museum visitors also received cherry pie from Polly’s Pies and were able to interact with President Washington, President Lincoln, President Teddy Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and President Andrew Jackson.
The festivities kicked off a year-long partnership with the White House Historical Association that will illuminate the Nixons’ White House legacy through educational programming and onsite events.
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