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• Paw Prints The Magazine says:

  Beth, Our October Issue ran this fun article on presidential pets. I thought you might enjoy this. FIRST FUR: Pets of our Presidents By Stacy E. Smith The presidential election is around the corner and the pollsters are going at full tilt; a recent report said that if only pet owners voted, Republican candidate John McCain would win hands down. The poll revealed that pet owners favor McCain 42% to 37%, with dog lovers particularly fond of the Republican. Senator McCain and his wife, Cindy, keep quite a menagerie in their Phoenix home. The McCain’s have 4 dogs: Sam the Springer spaniel, Coco the poodle mix, and Lucy and Desi the miniature Yorkshire terriers. There is also a black and white cat aptly named Oreo. They have a parakeet and tons of fish - the biggest one is named Lucky. According to one staffer, “it’s hard to guess on whether they’ll all be coming to the White House.” On the flip side, the current Democrat candidate, Barack Obama, has no family pets at the moment, but promised his daughters a puppy once the campaign is over – win or lose. Perhaps that’s one promise even a politician can keep! From an image standpoint, nothing humanizes a candidate (or a president) more than seeing him lovingly dote on his pet or play a game of fetch on the White House lawn. American Presidents have certainly always loved their pets. Harry S Truman once said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." It seems that every President but two, Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce, would have agreed with him (but read further for the tale of Truman's "unwanted" dog). Presidential pets were in no way limited to just dogs, either. Let’s take the tour of some notable presidential pets, shall we? George Washington (1789-1797) had a horse he especially loved – Nelson, the horse with him when General Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. George and Martha also had several hounds and a parrot named Polly. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) received an alligator from the Marquis de Lafayette. Supposedly, Adams loved the alligator so much he kept it in the East Room of the White House. John Tyler (1841-1845) had a horse called The General, and a pair of Italian Wolfhounds that he imported for his wife, Julia. On the horse’s gravestone he placed the following inscription: “Here lies the body of my good horse, The General. For twenty years he bore me around the circuit of my practice, and in all that time he never made a blunder. Would that his master could say the same! John Tyler.” James Buchanan (1857-1861) had a Newfoundland Dog named Lara. He also had elephants and a pair of bald eagles given to him by the King of Siam. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) had his dog Jip and other assorted cats and dogs. He also had Jack, the turkey. Jack was meant to be dinner, but Abe’s son Tad became so attached to the bird that Jack was given a Presidential pardon. Lincoln also had two goats, Nanny and Nanko, that he loved so much they rode with him in the Presidential Carriage. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) owned Jeff Davis, his wartime mount, and other horses and mares and Shetland ponies, plus a parrot, gamecocks and a Newfoundland Dog. Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) had the first Siamese kitten to reach America; he also had various dogs, cows, a goat, canaries and a mockingbird. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) came to the White House with the most animals (more than 50). One was a pony named Algonquin that was even allowed to visit Teddy's son, Archie, in his room while he was sick with the measles. How'd he get there? The elevator, of course! His daughter had a garter snake which she named Emily Spinach named for its color (green) and her Aunt Emily (similar body type). T.R.'s other daughter had a Pekinese called Manchu, a gift from the last Empress of China. Roosevelt’s list goes on to include two other snakes, two cats, a badger named Josiah, a macaw, a rat, 12 horses, 5 bears, 5 guinea pigs, 2 kangaroo rats, assorted lizards, a one-legged rooster, a barn owl, a flying squirrel, a raccoon, a coyote, a lion, a hyena and a zebra. And let’s not forget, the Teddy Bear was named after him. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) had a tobacco-chewing ram as a pet. To aid the war effort he decided he would release the White House gardeners, so to keep the lawn manicured he kept a flock of sheep there. He sold the sheep’s wool and donated the proceeds to the Red Cross. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) is first runner-up in the number of pets brought to the White House contest. His collection included 13 dogs, 3 canaries, 3 cats, 2 raccoons, a donkey, a bobcat, a goose, a mockingbird, a bear, an antelope, a wallaby, a pygmy hippo and some lion cubs. His favorite was a pet raccoon named Rebecca that he walked around the White House on a leash. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) had, among many other dogs at the White House during his term, a Scottish Terrier named Fala. They were so inseparable that Fala slept in a special chair at the end of Roosevelt's bed. There is a statue of Fala next to FDR at his memorial in D.C. Harry S Truman (1945-1953) was given an unsolicited Christmas gift in 1947, a puppy named Feller who became known as the “unwanted” Cocker Spaniel. When the Truman’s gave the puppy to the White House physician, dog lovers around the country attacked the President as being anti-canine. The doctor soon tired of the publicity and the dog was subsequently passed from the care of one Truman aide to another, living for some time at Camp David (then known as "Shangri-La"). One of Feller's "foster parents" was a Navy officer who was given permission to take the dog with him on assignment to Italy, on the condition that he never mention that the dog had once belonged to Truman. Later, the officer gave Feller to his father, who had a farm in Ohio. Finally having a permanent home, Feller lived there for many happy years until he died of old age. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) and his family had many pets, including a Welsh terrier and other dogs, a cat, a rabbit, hamsters, parakeets, a canary and, most famous of all, daughter Caroline’s pony, Macaroni. Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) had four beagles as President. His duties as leader of the Free World must have hampered his efforts to come up with names for the dogs; they were named Beagle, Little Beagle, Him and Her. The family also had a white collie and Yuki, a “mongrel dog,” as well as hamsters and lovebirds. LBJ caused quite a stir when he was photographed lifting Him and Her onto their hind legs by pulling on their ears (and making them yelp). Many beagle-fanciers came to his defense, saying that it was a common (and not-harmful) practice employed before hunts to make sure the dogs were in good voice. The incident was fodder for many comic quips, including LBJ's: "My mother used to pull my ears, and it never got that much attention." Richard Nixon (1969-1974) had a dog named Checkers as Vice President. Although Checkers was sent as a gift from a supporter, a definite no-no to accept, Nixon answered critics by saying his family was too attached to the dog to return him, regardless of impropriety. Hmmmmmm... During his presidency the family had 3 dogs: Pasha, Vicky, and King Timahoe Gerald Ford (1974-1977) had Liberty, a golden retriever, and Chan, a Siamese cat. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) briefly had his dog, Grits, and first daughter Amy had a Siamese cat named Misty Malarky Ying Yang. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) had Lucky, a Bouvier des Flandres who was sent to live at his "Rancho del Cielo" as she grew too big. She was replaced in the White House by Rex, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. George Bush, Sr. (1989-1993) had Millie the Springer Spaniel, who is to date the only First Pet to write a book, "Millie's Book", a behind-the-scenes look at life in the White House that was a New York Times #1 Best Seller. Millie had puppies while in the White House and all went to good homes including one to George W. and Laura; George and Barbara kept one that they named Ranger. Bill Clinton (1993-2001) had Buddy, a chocolate Lab. Buddy was named after Clinton’s Uncle Buddy, a dog trainer. The Clintons also had Socks the cat. It seems the two didn’t see eye to eye (maybe they were from different sides of the aisle). After Buddy passed away the Clintons brought another chocolate Lab, Seamus, into the family. Love or hate him, you’ll love this: President Clinton signed a bill in 2000 that allows either military or suitable civilians to adopt military dogs as pets – prior to that the dogs were regularly euthanized following their service. Our current President, George W. Bush (2001-2008) had a Springer Spaniel, Spot (one of Millie’s pups), who passed away in 2005 at age 11 and is still sorely missed. The family also has India (aka Willie) the cat, named for former Texas Rangers baseball player Ruben Sierra, who was called "El Indio". The Bushes also have the infamous Barney and Miss Beazley, both Scottish Terriers. There is also another pet belonging to the Bushes that lives at their ranch in Crawford, Texas, Ofelia the Longhorn. She and her "children," Ellie and Logan, are named after staff members who worked for the President when he was Governor. Her favorite pastimes are grazing the pasture and daydreaming. Paw Prints The Magazine Copywrite 2008

  Posted Oct 16, '08