2003 WHHA ORNAMENT

The 2003 White House ornament honors President Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant and his wife were well known by their contemporaries for their tender and generous hearts. At Christmas, President Grant sent elaborate gift barrels of confections and fruit to institutions caring for the orphans of families torn apart by the Civil War. Mrs. Grant often led groups of children to local shops to buy them toys and candy. The boy on the rocking horse is inspired by an authentic Victorian illustration of a child's joy at Christmas. The cold cast picture is hand painted.

Born in 1822, Ulysses S. Grant was the eldest of an Ohio tanner and frontier entrepreneur.