Pets in the White House

After last night’s acceptance speech by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, wherein he mentioned his two young daughters had earned a puppy, I wondered what other pets had followed their families to the White House.

I found that there really weren’t many domesticated pets in the first few years: The majority of “pets” the early presidents and their families had were horses, goats, cows, and birds, and John Quincy Adams apparently had an alligator. There are dogs mentioned here and there but they pretty much belonged to the First Ladies or their children, with no other info given.

George Washington had four Black and Tan Coonhounds named Drunkard, Taster, Tipler and Tipsy. John Adams had two dogs named Juno and Satan and Rutherford Hayes apparently had the first Siamese kitten to reach America in the late 1870’s. James Garfield had a dog named Veto, and Theodore Roosevelt had Pete, a bull terrier, Sailor Boy, a Chesapeake Retriever, and a mongrel named Skip.

Things really picked up in the early 1900’s: While Warren Harding “only” had two dogs – an Airedale named Laddie Boy and an English Bulldog named Old Boy, Calvin Coolidge owned and/or cared for 12 dogs during his administration (among many other animals), and Herbert Hoover had 8 dogs. There were 7 dogs in the White House with FDR and his family, while Truman had just one, “Feller, the unwanted dog.”

Eisenhower had a Weimaraner named Heidi, and JFK’s young family had several pets, including a cat, a canary, parakeets, ponies, hamsters, a rabbit, and five dogs. Lyndon B. Johnson had three beagles named Little Beagle and Him and Her, as well as Blanco, a white Collie and the famous Yuki, a mongrel.

Richard Nixon acquired his dog Checkers while still Vice President, and gained three more dogs during his presidency. Gerald Ford had a golden retriever named Liberty (pictured above). Ronald Reagan had Lucky, a Bouvier des Flandres who was sent to the ranch when she grew too big, and was replaced by Rex, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel.

George Bush had Millie, a Springer Spaniel and then Ranger, one of Millie’s puppies. Bill Clinton had Socks the cat and a chocolate lab named Buddy, who did not get along with Socks. George W. Bush has Miss Beazley, Barney, and Spot, and a cat named India.

Other interesting finds: Millard Fillmore was apparently a founding member of the Buffalo chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Andrew Johnson is probably most well-known for feeding flour to white mice as his presidency crumbled around him.

[images: wikipedia; wikipedia]