Joe Biden has spent many holidays near the White House during his five decades as a lawmaker — first as a senator, then as vice president.
For the first time, Biden will spend his holidays as Commander-in-Chief. Both he and first lady Dr. Jill Biden kicked off the season by following in the steps of their predecessors both in their new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and in communities close to Washington.
The Bidens will not spend Thanksgiving in the White House, nor in their beloved Delaware home, opting instead to travel to Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Tuesday evening.
Before departing for their family festivities, the Bidens visited the D.C. Central Kitchen, a community-centered organization that provides job training, healthy meals and other services in the nation’s capital.
The Bidens were joined by vice president Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, for a tour of the facilities. Both Biden and Emhoff donned black baseball caps emblazoned with the D.C. Central Kitchen logo as they met with CEO Mike Curtin and met with volunteers preparing meals containing turkey, green beans, a casserole and cranberry sauce.
The group later helped assemble the meals, with Biden and Harris taking turkey duty, and Dr. Biden and Doug Emhoff assisting with casseroles.
When asked what he was grateful for this holiday season, Biden put his arm around the volunteer standing beside him and proclaimed: “The people standing right next to me.”
Tuesday’s visit came on the heels of two other events on Monday that set off a White House holiday season expected to be much more festive this year than last, and which has already seen the president and first lady indulge in a series of longtime White House traditions.
On Monday afternoon, Dr. Biden welcomed an 18-foot Fraser fir tree to the White House with a brass band playing “O Christmas Tree” in the background.
Dr. Biden inspected the tree, delivered by horse-drawn carriage, in the chilly November air, telling reporters gathered nearby: “It’s beautiful! It’s magnificent, actually.”
The White House Christmas decorations will be revealed on the Monday after Thanksgiving, the first lady said.
The modern White House Christmas tree tradition dates back to 1966, when the National Christmas Tree Association held its first nationwide competition to choose a tree for the residence of the president and first lady.
Later Monday, Dr. Biden and the president traveled to Fort Bragg in North Carolina to honor service members and their families with a “friendsgiving” celebration, personally serving up stuffing and mashed potatoes for some of the 250-plus in attendance.
“The thing that's amazing to me is how proud I am to be your commander, and you are the most incredible group of women and men that we've ever seen,” the president said to the service members and their families. “And so, I just want to thank you so much.”
A number of recent presidents have visited with troops on or around the Thanksgiving holiday. In 2019, Donald Trump traveled to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where he served dinner and dined with troops stationed overseas. In 2007, George W. Bush called service members in Afghanistan, Iraq, and aboard the U.S.S. Eisenhower to offer him
And in 2011, during his time as vice president, Joe Biden invited wounded warriors and their families to an early Thanksgiving dinner at the Naval Observatory in honor of their service.
Another presidential tradition came last week, when Biden issued pardons for two turkeys named Peanut Butter and Jelly, saving them from becoming Thanksgiving dinner.
The turkey pardon became an annual tradition under President George H.W. Bush in 1989.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.