2010 White House Christmas Ornament, The U.S. Marine Band

The 2010 White House Christmas ornament honors President William McKinley, 25th President of the United States, (1897 -1901), and celebrates the role of music in the traditions of the White House. The McKinley administration is remembered as a time when the nation moved beyond its continental boundaries to become an international power. The American people idolized McKinley during his presidency, so suddenly cut short by an assassin’s bullets six months into his second term. In celebration of the nation’s patriotic mood as the century turned, the illustrations commissioned for the President William McKinley White House ornament feature festive, colorful scenes from the annual Army Navy Reception at the White House in 1900. The front face of the Christmas ornament for 2010 depicts members of the United States Marine Band performing on the snow covered North Drive as arriving guests disembark from their carriages. The reverse side of the ornament shows the band playing for President and Mrs. McKinley and their party in the flag bedecked splendor of the East Room. It was in this High Victorian East Room that the McKinleys began the era of “musicales” (receptions with music as the leading feature) at the White House, a tradition that continues to this day.