The History of White House Christmas Cards, From Engravings to Digital Greetings

Few White House traditions are as old or cherished as the annual Christmas celebrations it hosts – which date back more than a century and transcend partisan politics, imbuing the president’s official residence with a sense of continuity and warmth.

But the feeling of unity and joy no need to stop at the doors from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Like most families, presidents and first ladies of the United States have long used annual Christmas cards to share holiday greetings with friends near and far – communicating well-wishes, gratitude, and sometimes, subtle political statements.

Here’s a look at how the White House Christmas card tradition began and how the tradition has evolved over the years.

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Historians aren’t sure when presidents began sending Christmas cards, although many acknowledge that the practice likely began unofficially in the late 1800s, with recipients likely limited to a smaller group.

In fact, it wasn’t until 1927 that then-President Calvin Coolidge wrote what would become the first “official” Christmas card to the American people. Coolidge, in response to multiple requests for holiday greetings, hand-wrote a short, simple message, “Season’s Greetings,” in a distinctive and elegant cursive form for which he was known.

The missive was published by every major newspaper in the country, kicking off what would become a larger and more elaborate tradition that continues to this day.

In the years that followed, Christmas greetings took the form of individual cards and the list of recipients grew longer and wider. Former Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon each developed this tradition into a more formal one, with Eisenhower adding cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, and U.S. ambassadors abroad to the list of recipients.

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Under Nixon, cards were printed en masse for the first time and mailed to a much larger audience of some 40,000 people – an undertaking that would have been unimaginable in Coolidge’s era, when the hand-printed “Season’s Greetings” message was handwritten with painstaking care and detail.

Today, the national Republican and Democratic parties are responsible for printing Christmas cards; therefore, the lists include (but are not limited to) party donors and campaign supporters, among others.

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Although neither party has released an official tally of cards it has sent on behalf of recent presidents, the RNC is estimated having printed some 1.5 million Christmas cards for the White House during George W. Bush’s presidency — a number that has since increased under former Presidents Obama, Biden and Trump during his first term and this year.

Other technological advances allow even those without the financial means to share in the joy of Christmas.

White House social media accounts have taken advantage of the rise of social media in recent years to share official Christmas photos, expanding the reach and message of the commander in chief, and often the rest of his family.

White House accounts shared the official Christmas 2025 portrait of President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Tuesday.

This year’s printed White House Christmas card expands on Melania Trump’s Christmas 2025 theme, “Home is where the heart is,” which she said was inspired by “the joys, challenges and frequent movements derived from motherhood and business.”

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“This Christmas, let’s celebrate the love we carry within us and share it with the world around us,” she said in a statement. statement announcing the White House’s 2025 Christmas theme. “After all, wherever we are, we can create a home filled with grace, radiance and endless possibilities.”