United States presidential pets

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Socks at the White House Press Briefing Room lectern in 1993 Socks the Cat Explores.jpg
Socks at the White House Press Briefing Room lectern in 1993
Grace Coolidge with Laddie Boy, an Airedale Terrier, and Rob Roy, a white Collie Grace Coolidge with dogs crop.jpg
Grace Coolidge with Laddie Boy, an Airedale Terrier, and Rob Roy, a white Collie
Controversy resulted from a 1964 photo of Lyndon B. Johnson pulling his dog by its ears. C311-7-64 LBJ Library.jpg
Controversy resulted from a 1964 photo of Lyndon B. Johnson pulling his dog by its ears.

Most United States presidents have kept pets while in office, or pets have been part of their families. [1] Only James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Donald Trump did not have any presidential pets while in office. [2] However, Johnson did take care of some mice he found in his bedroom. [3]

Contents

History of White House pets

The first White House dog to receive regular newspaper coverage was Warren G. Harding's dog Laddie Boy. [4]

Pets also featured in presidential elections. Herbert Hoover got a "Belgian Police Dog" (Belgian Malinois), [5] King Tut, during his campaign and pictures of him with his new dog were sent all across the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt was known for having many pets in the White House. He had six children who owned pets including snakes, dogs, cats, a badger, birds, and guinea pigs. [6]

In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt was running for his fourth term when rumors surfaced that his Scottish Terrier, Fala, had accidentally been left behind when visiting the Aleutian Islands. After allegedly sending back ships to rescue his dog, Roosevelt was ridiculed and accused of spending thousands of taxpayers' dollars to retrieve his dog. At a speech following this Roosevelt said, "You can criticize me, my wife and my family, but you can't criticize my little dog. He's Scottish and all these allegations about spending all this money have just made his little soul furious." [7] What was later called the "Fala speech" reportedly helped secure reelection for Roosevelt. [8]

Miss Beazley, a Scottish Terrier given to Laura Bush by her husband Miss Beazley.jpg
Miss Beazley, a Scottish Terrier given to Laura Bush by her husband

Richard Nixon was accused of hiding a secret slush fund during his candidacy for vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. He gave the televised "Checkers speech" named after his cocker spaniel, denying he had a slush fund but admitting, "there is one thing that I did get as a gift that I'm not going to give back." [9] The gift was a black-and-white cocker spaniel, Checkers, given to his daughters. Although there had been talk of Nixon being dropped from the ticket, following his speech he received an increase in support and Mamie Eisenhower reportedly recommended he stay because he was "such a warm person." [10] [11]

Animal lovers were upset when President Lyndon B. Johnson was photographed lifting his beagles, named Him and Her, by their ears. Others did not understand the uproar; former president Harry S. Truman said, "What the hell are the critics complaining about; that's how you handle hounds." [9] Him died after he was run over by the presidential limousine. [12]

Bill Clinton moved into the White House with Socks, a tuxedo cat, who in 1991 was reported to have jumped into the arms of Chelsea Clinton after piano lessons while the Clintons were living in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was later joined in 1997 by Buddy, a Labrador Retriever, during Clinton's second term. [13] The two reportedly did not get along, with Clinton later saying "I did better with the Palestinians and the Israelis than I've done with Socks and Buddy" while Hillary Clinton said Socks "despised" Buddy at first sight. [14] The two were, however, the subject of a book, Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets written by then First Lady Hillary Clinton and appeared as cartoons in the kids' section of the first White House website. [15]

While George W. Bush was president, he had three dogs and a cat at the White House. [16] Among the canines was Spot Fetcher, an English Springer Spaniel and the offspring of George H. W. Bush's dog, Millie. [17] This made Spotty the first animal to live in the White House under two different administrations, having been born there in 1989 and passed away there in 2004. [18]

Barack and Michelle Obama were without pets prior to the 2008 election, but promised their daughters they could get a dog when the family moved into the White House. [19] They selected Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog, partly due to Malia Obama's allergies and the need for a hypoallergenic pet. [20] The puppy was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy [21] and was later joined by Sunny, a female of the same breed. [22] Bo was featured in the 2010 children's book Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters , written by President Obama with illustrations by Loren Long. [23]

Joe and Jill Biden moved into the White House with two German Shepherds, Champ and Major. [24] Major was the first shelter dog in the White House, while Champ returned to Washington, having joined the Biden family during Joe Biden's tenure as vice-president. [25] The Bidens announced the death of 13-year-old Champ on June 19, 2021. [26] In December 2021, the Bidens announced the arrival of a pedigreed German Shepherd puppy named Commander, gifted to them by Joe Biden's brother. Officials later told the press that Major had been rehomed to a quieter environment following a series of biting incidents. The Bidens had also promised they would get a cat, and they fulfilled that promise in January 2022 by adding a two-year-old gray tabby, Willow, to the family. [27]

List of presidential pets

In addition to traditional pets, this list includes some animals normally considered livestock or working animals that have a close association with presidents or their families. Presidents have often been given exotic animals from foreign dignitaries; occasionally these are kept, but often they are promptly donated to a zoo.

PresidentPets
George Washington
Portrait of George Washington Taking the Salute at Trenton by John Faed shows Washington on his horse Blueskin. Portrait-of-george-washington-taking-the-salute-at-trenton-john-faed.jpg
Portrait of George Washington Taking the Salute at Trenton by John Faed shows Washington on his horse Blueskin.
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
  • A spaniel [32] whose name is unknown belonged to Monroe's youngest daughter, Maria Hester Monroe [47] who the family called “Buddy” [48]
  • Sheepdogs were provided by Marquis de Lafayette as working dogs on Monroe's farm. [49]
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
William Henry Harrison
  • Sukey – Durham cow [59]
  • Whiskers (named either His Whiskers or Old Whiskers) – Goat
John Tyler
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor
  • Old Whitey horse [key 2] Taylor's wartime mount
  • Apollo – Pony; [key 2] formerly a "trick pony" from a circus, a present for Taylor's daughter Betty and resided in the White House stables with Old Whitey [61]
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
James Buchanan
Abraham Lincoln
Old Bob caparisoned in a mourning blanket at Abraham Lincoln's funeral Old Bob or Old Robin.png
Old Bob caparisoned in a mourning blanket at Abraham Lincoln's funeral
Andrew Johnson
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
White House--Major Russell Harrison and Harrison children--Baby McKee and sister on goat cart.jpg
Whiskers pulling a cart at the White House, with Russell Harrison and his children
DogHouse Dash President Harrison.jpg
Dash in front of his doghouse
  • Whiskers ("His Whiskers," or "Old Whiskers") goat, [36] [79] kept at the White House for the president's grandchildren; may have belonged to Russell Harrison [80]
  • Dash collie [32]
  • Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection opossums, [81] named from the 1896 Republican party platform, [82] which includes: "Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of Republican policy and go hand in hand." [83]
  • Two alligators  – According to one account, Russell Harrison kept two alligators in the White House conservatory [84]
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
Archie riding Algonquin Archie Roosevelt poses with Algonquin 1902.jpg
Archie riding Algonquin
Roosevelt family with Skip Theodore Roosevelt and Family - 24 August 1907.jpg
Roosevelt family with Skip
Illustration of Slippers, the White House cat St. Nicholas (serial) (1873) (14595456808).jpg
Illustration of Slippers, the White House cat
William Howard Taft
  • Caruso – dog, [key 2] a gift for Taft's daughter Helen from opera singer Enrico Caruso; after a White House performance, he decided that cows were not appropriate pets for a little girl [100]
  • Mooly Wooly [key 2] and Pauline Wayne  cows. Pauline (or "Miss Wayne") was a Holstein of considerable fame; she "went missing" for two days. [101]
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Laddie Boy Laddie Boy portrait crop.jpg
Laddie Boy
Calvin Coolidge
Portrait of Rob Roy and Grace Coolidge Grace Coolidge Official portrait.jpg
Portrait of Rob Roy and Grace Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover with King Tut Herbert Hoover and King Tut.jpg
Herbert Hoover with King Tut
Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR and Fala (1940) FDR-Fala-1940-crop.jpg
FDR and Fala (1940)
Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Kennedy family and dogs Kennedy Family with Dogs During a Weekend at Hyannisport 1963.png
Kennedy family and dogs
Lyndon B. Johnson
LBJ with Him LBJ Lifts Dog By Ears-C311-7-64.jpg
LBJ with Him
Richard Nixon
King Timahoe, Vicky and Pasha looking out the window in the White House Richard M. Nixon's dogs looking out a window of the White House - NARA - 194337.tif
King Timahoe, Vicky and Pasha looking out the window in the White House
Gerald Ford
Photograph of Susan Ford with Shan, the Ford Family's Siamese Cat - NARA - 7284031.jpg
Susan Ford, daughter of Gerald Ford, and the family's Siamese cat, Shan, in 1974
President Ford and his golden retriever Liberty - NARA - 6829597.jpg
Ford and Liberty in the Oval Office
Jimmy Carter
Amy Carter with her cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang Amycarterjpg.jpg
Amy Carter with her cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang
Ronald Reagan
Rex Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.jpg
Rex
Reagan on horseback.jpg
Ronald Reagan on El Alamein
George H. W. Bush
Millie Millie (dog).jpg
Millie
Bill Clinton
Socks Socks-clinton.jpg
Socks
George W. Bush
India IndioCat.jpg
India
Barack Obama
Bo and Sunny Bo and Sunny the Obama family dogs on the South Lawn of the White House 2013-08-19.jpg
Bo and Sunny
Donald Trump None [160]
Joe Biden
Biden with Champ and Major Joe Biden petting Champ and Major in Oval Office, 9 February 2021.jpg
Biden with Champ and Major
  • Champ [161] (November 11, 2008 – June 19, 2021) – German Shepherd
  • Major [161] (born January 17, 2018) – German Shepherd rescue. Sent to live with family friends in Delaware by December 2021 after several White House biting incidents.
  • Commander [162] (born September 1, 2021) – German Shepherd gifted to the Bidens as a puppy by the president's brother, also removed from White House after biting incidents [163]
  • Willow [164] – gray tabby cat who was adopted after the cat jumped onstage during a rally in Pennsylvania in 2020. Willow, who Biden described as having "no limits", often sleeps on top of the president's head. [165]
Key

See also

Further reading

Notes

  1. Washington was an avid dog breeder; he called the breed that he was developing "Virginia Hounds"; which eventually became American Foxhounds [30] [31]
  2. Some sources reference the name "Polly" [37]
  3. Including a "Bengal ewe" (Desi sheep) and "a ram and a ewe of the Barbary Broadtail breed"; see American Tunis [45]
  4. The East Room was still under repair following the 1814 burning of the White House by the British, and was primarily used for storage. During the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States, Lafayette acquired several tons of gifts (including the alligator) that was stored there. [53] [54] much to the consternation of visitors. [55] Possibly sent to France aboard the USS Brandywine
  5. See: Conveying Marquis de Lafayette to France
  6. Number uncertain, perhaps received as many as seven. "Pierce was thought to have kept one dog, and he gave the other to his Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis. Davis was particularly pleased with the dog and was known to have carried it with him in his pocket." [62]
  7. Illustration from St. Nicholas (1908); original caption: "With an amused bow, the President escorted the Ambassadress around 'Slippers' and kept on his way toward the East Room." [85]
  8. Checkers died in 1964, before Nixon became president, but had played a major role in his electoral career

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