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The Pageant of Peace and the National Tree
The Pageant of Peace and the National Tree
President Dwight Eisenhower turns on the lights for the 1953 National Community Christmas Tree. The following year, the ceremony was renamed the 'Pageant of Peace.'
President Dwight Eisenhower turns on the lights for the 1953 National Community Christmas Tree. The following year, the ceremony was renamed the 'Pageant of Peace.'
 
Leading the 2001 Christmas Pageant of Peace program, President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush preside over the lighting ceremonies for the National Christmas Tree, a 40-foot Colorado blue spruce. Red lights adorn the state trees surrounding the tree in 1965. Smaller live trees representing the 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia, form a 'Pathway of Peace.'
President Hoover and Mrs. Hoover pose in front of the 1930 National Community Christmas Tree. Gold tinsel criss-crossed the limbs of the star-crowned 1973 tree.
The 1940 National Community Christmas Tree, lit by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, glows in front of the Washington Monument. White tinsel and white balls fill the 1975 tree.
British Prime Minister Churchill, right, accompanied President Roosevelt to the National Community Tree Lighting Ceremony in 1941. The Washington Monument glows behind the soon-to-be-lit 1979 tree. In 1978, a Colorado blue spruce from York, Pennsylvania, was planted on the Ellipse as the national living tree.
President Harry Truman pushes the button to turn on the lights for the 1945 National Community Christmas Tree. Large red stars adorned the 1981 tree.
President Dwight Eisenhower turns on the lights for the 1953 National Community Christmas Tree. The following year, the ceremony was renamed the 'Pageant of Peace.' The 1990 tree was filled with stars, balls and gold and red lights.
Remembering President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson lit the 1963 tree. The 1993 tree was lit with large diamond-shaped and round lights that resembled ornaments.

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