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]

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Socks at the White House Press Briefing Room lectern in 1993
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Grace Coolidge with Laddie Boy, an Airedale Terrier, and Rob Roy, a white Collie

History of White House pets

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Barney, India, and Miss Beazley, three pets of the George W. Bush White House
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Statues of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his dog Fala at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

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]

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]

President Lyndon B. Johnson caused controversy when he was photographed lifting his beagles, named Him and Her, by their ears. Some did not understand the controversy; 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 pets 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.

George Washington

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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

John Quincy Adams

Andrew Jackson

Martin Van Buren

William Henry Harrison

John Tyler

James K. Polk

Zachary Taylor

  • Old Whiteyhorse[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[60]

Millard Fillmore

Franklin Pierce

James Buchanan

Abraham Lincoln

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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

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Whiskers pulling a cart at the White House, with Russell Harrison and his children
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Dash in front of his doghouse
  • Whiskers ("His Whiskers," or "Old Whiskers") – goat,[36][77] kept at the White House for the president's grandchildren; may have belonged to Russell Harrison[78]
  • Dash – collie[32]
  • Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection – opossums,[79] named from the 1896 Republican party platform,[80] which includes: "Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of Republican policy and go hand in hand."[81]
  • Two alligators – According to one account, Russell Harrison kept two alligators in the White House conservatory[82]

William McKinley

Theodore Roosevelt

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Archie riding Algonquin
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Roosevelt family with Skip
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Illustration of Slippers, the White House cat[g]

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[101]
  • Mooly Wooly[key 2] and Pauline Waynecows. Pauline (or "Miss Wayne") was a Holstein of considerable fame; she "went missing" for two days.[102]

Woodrow Wilson

Warren G. Harding

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Laddie Boy

Calvin Coolidge

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Portrait of Rob Roy and Grace Coolidge

Herbert Hoover

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Herbert Hoover with King Tut

Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Franklin D. Roosevelt and Fala (1940)

Harry S. Truman

Dwight D. Eisenhower

John F. Kennedy

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The Kennedy family and dogs

Lyndon B. Johnson

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Johnson lifting Him by the ears

Richard Nixon

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King Timahoe, Vicky and Pasha looking out the window in the White House

Gerald Ford

Jimmy Carter

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Amy Carter with her cat Misty Malarky Ying Yang

Ronald Reagan

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Rex, Ronald Reagan's dog

George H. W. Bush

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George H. W. Bush walking with Millie and Ranger

Bill Clinton

George W. Bush

Barack Obama

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Bo and Sunny

Donald Trump

Joe Biden

  • Champ[163] (November 11, 2008 – June 19, 2021) – German Shepherd
  • Major[163] (born January 17, 2018) – A German Shepherd rescue. Sent to live with family friends in Delaware by December 2021 after several White House biting incidents.
  • Commander[164] (born September 1, 2021) – A German Shepherd given to the Bidens as a puppy by the president's brother, also removed from White House after biting incidents[165]
  • Willow[166] – A 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.[167]
  • Celtic – A Mongolian horse given to (then vice-president) Biden as a gift by Sükhbaataryn Batbold, the Prime Minister of Mongolia, in 2011.[168] The horse remained in Mongolia under the care of local handlers.[169]

Key

  1. Number unknown
  2. Breed unknown
  3. Species unknown
  4. Name unknown

See also

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.[52][53] much to the consternation of visitors.[54] Possibly sent to France aboard the USS Brandywine
  5. 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."[61]
  6. 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."[83]
  7. Checkers died in 1964, before Nixon became president, but had played a major role in his electoral career

    References

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