How To Order A White House Christmas Card

By Lori Ferber

We are asked frequently how a person can request a Christmas Card from the White House?  After all, tens of thousands of people receive a card from the President every Christmas, surely there must be a way to get on the list.

Several people asked us if we could send them a link to order the card online.

The truth isn’t you can’t just order a card online. What you can order are congratulatory cards from the White House for birth announcements, anniversaries, birthdays retirements and weddings – but there are rules. More about that later in this article.

White House Christmas Cards (now called “Holiday Cards”), are restricted to political supporters, people who donate to presidential campaigns, political supporters and White House staff and members of the media.

So does that mean there is no way to get on “the list”? No. It just means you have to work harder to do it. You can:

  • Make a request to your Congressman or Congresswoman
  • Donate to the Republican or Democratic party whose candidate is in office
  • Be a member of the media/press who covers Washington politics
  • Convince Party officials that you are an ardent and important supporter

One important fact to be aware of. The White House does not pay to print the cards. The Republican or Democratic parties do. Want to increase your chances? Donate more and donate more frequently.

While White House Christmas Cards have been produced as far back as the 1800’s, the cards were not truly mass produced until the presidential terms of Richard Nixon. Nixon ordered more than 40,000 cards to be produced.  In addition, Nixon authorized what has become known as “Gift Prints”. The Gift Prints are larger versions of the familiar Christmas Cards, that were presented to White House staff and other special individuals.

The Republican Party produced over 1.5 million cards during the presidency of George W. Bush.

Now for the good news. While it may be challenging for you to receive a White House Christmas Card, and downright impossible to get your own White House Gift Cards, you can order greeting (not Christmas) cards directly online under certain circumstances, they key one being that you must be a U.S. Citizen. How the government determines if someone is a U.S. Citizen is unknown. These greeting cards can be very nice surprises for the recipients. Here is a list of the greetings that they White House can send: 

TYPE OF GREETING

REQUIREMENTS

Birth Greeting

Must be requested within one year of birth date.

Wedding Anniversary Greeting

Must be 50th anniversary or longer

Birthday Greeting

Must be 80th or older (70th for Veterans)

Retirement Greeting

20 Years of service or longer

Wedding Greeting

No specific requirements

 To request a Presidential Greeting visit the White House online ordering form at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/presidential-greetings-request

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