[17] An outdoor Christian worship service was held, and a mass choir composed of signing groups from area community centers sang more Christmas carols.

[20] Feiker, accompanied by T. H. Ormesby of the Society for Electrical Development and Republican Representative Hamilton Fish II of New York, extended the invitation to light the tree to Coolidge on December 6, which he again accepted.

[29] The Community Center Department of the District of Columbia Public Schools coordinated the choirs for the event and the United States Army Band provided music.

[48] For a time, the National Park Service hoped to plant two trees of an undetermined species on the Ellipse near the White House, but in the end acceded to the Commission's plan.

[52] During the tree lighting ceremony, President Roosevelt extemporaneously poked fun at the previous year's lighting glitch before exhorting all Americans to come together in courage and unity as did the famous American war heroes honored with statues in the park: Comte de Rochambeau, the Marquis de Lafayette, General Tadeusz Kos'ciuszko, Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, and Andrew Jackson.

[55] It was the second-highest national Christmas tree in the history of the event, and it required 700 hand-colored light bulbs, 100 hand-crafted glass stars and several mercury-vapor floodlights to decorate and illuminate.

[62] On December 22, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill secretly arrived in the United States aboard the HMS Duke of York and flew the remaining 150 miles (240 km) to Washington, where he stayed with President Roosevelt in the White House for the Arcadia Conference.

[65] At 4 p.m. on December 24, the southeast and southwest gates of the South Lawn were opened and between 20,000 and 40,000 people entered the grounds, searched and watched over by U.S. Army soldiers, D.C. Metropolitan Police, and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[68] On the portico of the White House with Roosevelt and Churchill stood Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, which had been occupied by Nazi Germany on April 9, 1940, and their three children; Roosevelt confidant Harry Hopkins; Attorney General Francis Biddle; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stanley Forman Reed; and Associate Justice Robert H.

[83] The beginning of an actual pageant was the brainchild of Edward M. Kirby, public relations counsel for the National Capitol Committee of the Washington Board of Trade.

[84] The idea came to him after flying into the District of Columbia in early December 1953 and feeling disappointment at looking out the windows of the plane to see that the city had none of the visual impact of other major metropolises at Christmastime.

[88] The tree chosen for the first Pageant of Peace was a 67-foot (20 m) tall balsam fir from northern Michigan, decorated with 2,100 red, blue, and gold lights and topped by a brilliant white star.

They ran into the nearby rush-hour traffic (one even entered a local drugstore) until rounded up by Metropolitan Motorcycle Police,[99][97] placing the sheep in their sidecars and shepherding them back safely to their enclosure before the arrival of the presidential party.

[121] The tree lighting occurred three days earlier than usual because President Kennedy had been scheduled to leave for Bermuda to meet with British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.

In addition to the life-size nativity scene, Yule log, stage, and live reindeer, the International Paper Company donated 80 small cut Christmas trees decorated with white lights and erected in the shape of a "Cross of Peace" on the Ellipse.

[150] A 42-foot Colorado blue spruce from the Sunset Lake Nursery near Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, was donated by the National Arborist Association and planted in the Ellipse close to the Zero Milestone just east of the central north–south axis of the White House.

The Christian Service Corps display included live actors in period costumes, a musical soundtrack, three camels, a cow, a donkey, and 15 sheep.

[167] The National Park Service undertook a lengthy study to find a species of tree that could thrive in the climate and soil conditions of the capital and better withstand the annual decoration process.

[154] A 30-foot (9.1 m)[163] tall blue spruce, located at the home of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Myers of York, Pennsylvania, was chosen as the new National Christmas Tree planted in the Ellipse in 1978.

[166] Due to security concerns about assassination attempts, President Ronald Reagan lit the National Christmas Tree via remote control from the East Room of the White House in 1981,[182] 1982,[183] and 1983.

The petting zoo was canceled due to cost concerns, but for the first time each state or territory donated the ornaments to be used on their tree lining the Pathway of Peace.

The United States federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996 forced the cancellation of the Pageant of Peace beginning December 16, although the National Park Service had enough funds to keep the tree lit through January 1, 1996.

[198] In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the United States Secret Service announced on November 16 that only those individuals with tickets would be permitted onto The Ellipse for the December 6 tree lighting.

Police detained the man after coaxing him down from the tree, whereupon first responders transported him to the District of Columbia's Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program for a mental health evaluation.

[226] The event was hosted by LL Cool J and performances were prepared by United States Marine Band, Andy Grammer, Ariana DeBose, Joss Stone, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain and Yolanda Adams.

[231] A wooden snow fence is installed near the tree and around the Pageant of Peace area each year as well to protect the lawn during periods of high foot traffic.

A temporary black plastic walkway is laid down to provide pedestrian access (the actual Pathway of Peace), and the trees guarded by a white vinyl picket fence.

[241] Although the trial was set for February 1, 1971, the plaintiffs and ACLU declined to seek a temporary injunction against the display in December 1970 in favor of a permanent resolution of the issue.

[243] Beginning in 1973, the American Christian Heritage Association (a group based in Prince George's County, Maryland) began hosting a private nativity display complete with live animals on The Ellipse.

Citizens for God and Country, a one-person organization based in Virginia, asked the National Park Service to include a nativity scene in the 1984 Pageant of Peace.