United States presidential pets

Socks the cat at the podium in the White House Press Briefing Room in 1993

Grace Coolidge with Laddie Buck, an Airedale Terrier, and Rob Roy, a white Collie

United States Presidents and their families have often had pets while serving in office.^[1]

History of White House dogs

The first White House dog to receive regular newspaper coverage was Warren G. Harding's dog Laddie Boy.^[2]

Pets also featured on presidential elections. Herbert Hoover got a Belgian shepherd dog, King Tut, during his campaign and pictures of him with his new dog were sent all across the United States.

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 Scotch and all these allegations about spending all this money have just made his little soul furious."^[3] What was later called the "Fala Speech" reportedly helped secure re-election for Roosevelt.

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."^[4] 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".^[5][6]

Animal lovers were upset when President Lyndon B. Johnson was photographed picking his two Beagle dogs named Him and Her up 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."^[4]

List of Presidential pets

President	Pet(s)
George Washington	Sweetlips,[7] Scentwell, and Vulcan[8] – American Staghounds Drunkard,[7] Taster, Tipler, and Tipsy – Black and Tan Coonhounds[9] Royal Gift, a gift from King Charles III of Spain[10] – Donkey Nelson and Blueskin[11] – Horses[ps 1][12] Parrot[ps 2][ps 3] – Said to have been owned by First Lady Martha Washington.[13] Cornwallis,[14] named for General Cornwallis[14] – Greyhound (dog) Samson, Steady, Leonidas, Traveller, Magnolia[15] – Stallions
John Adams	Juno, Mark, and Satan[7] – Dogs[ps 1][9] Cleopatra and Caesar[15] – Horse[ps 1]
Thomas Jefferson	Dick – Mockingbird[ps 3] Buzzy and unknown – Briards (dogs)[9] Two bear cubs[ps 2][ps 3] Caractacus – Horse[ps 1]
James Madison	Polly – Parrot
James Monroe	Spaniel[9][ps 2][ps 1] – Belonged to youngest daughter, Maria Monroe[16] Sebastian – Siberian Husky
John Quincy Adams	Silkworms[ps 2][ps 4][17] An Alligator, received as a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette.[15]
Andrew Jackson	Polly – parrot[ps 3] (taught to swear) Fighting cocks[ps 2][ps 4] Bolivia, Emily, Lady Nashville, Sam Patches, and Truxton – Horses[ps 1]
Martin Van Buren	Briefly owned two tiger cubs given to him by the Sultan of Oman before Congress forced him to donate the tigers to the zoo[18][19]
William Henry Harrison	Sukey – Durham cow[20] Goat*
John Tyler	Le Beau – Italian Greyhound[9] Johnny Ty – Canary The General – Horse[ps 1]
James K. Polk	No known pets[19]
Zachary Taylor	Old Whitey – Horse[ps 1]
Millard Fillmore	Mason and Dixon – Ponies[ps 1]
Franklin Pierce	Seven miniature Oriental dogs[ps 2][ps 1] Two birds from Japan,[ps 2][ps 3] which had just opened its trading posts to the United States.
James Buchanan	Lara – Newfoundland Punch – Toy Terrier Eagle[ps 2][ps 3]
Abraham Lincoln	Nanny and Nanko – goats[12] Jack – Turkey[12] Fido – Dog[7][9] Jip – Dog[9] Tabby and Dixie - Cats. Lincoln once remarked that Dixie "is smarter than my whole cabinet."[21] Horse[ps 2][ps 1] Rabbit[ps 2][ps 1]
Andrew Johnson	Fed white mice he found in his bedroom[ps 2][ps 4][19]
Ulysses S. Grant	Butcher Boy, Cincinnatus (a gift from the citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio), Egypt, Jeff Davis (his wartime mount), Jennie, Julia, Mary, and St. Louis – Horses.[ps 1] Billy Button and Reb – Ponies[ps 1] Faithful – Newfoundland[9] Rosie – Dog[ps 1]
Rutherford B. Hayes	Dot – Cocker Spaniel[9] Hector – Newfoundland[9] Duke – English Mastiff[9] Grim – Greyhound[7][9] Otis – Miniature Schnauzer[9] Juno and Shep – Hunting dogs Jet – Dog[ps 1] Piccolomini – Cat[ps 1] Siam – First Siamese cat in the United States Miss Pussy – Siamese cat-Siam and Miss Pussy were gifts from the King of Siam.
James A. Garfield	Kit – Horse[ps 1] Veto[7] – Dog[ps 1]
Chester A. Arthur	Rabbit[ps 2][ps 1] Three horses[ps 2][ps 1]
Grover Cleveland	Hector – Japanese Poodle[9] Mockingbirds[ps 2][ps 3][ps 4] Three[22] Dachshunds[9]
Benjamin Harrison	Dash in front of his doghouse Whiskers ("His Whiskers", or "Old Whiskers") – Goat[12][23] Dash – Collie[9] Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection – Opossums[24]
William McKinley	Washington Post – Yellow-headed Mexican parrot Valeriano Weyler and Enrique DeLome – Angora kittens Roosters[ps 2][ps 4]
Theodore Roosevelt	Roosevelt family with Skip Illustration of Slippers, the White House cat Admiral Dewey, Bishop Doane, Dr. Johnson, Father O'Grady, Fighting Bob Evans – guinea pigs[ps 1][25] Algonquin – Pony[ps 1][25] Baron Spreckle – Hen[ps 1][25] Bill – lizard[ps 3][25] Blackjack – Manchester Terrier Eli Yale – Blue macaw[25] Emily Spinach – Garter snake[ps 3][25] Fedelity – Pony[ps 1] Gem and Susan – Dogs[ps 1] Jack[25] and Peter – Terriers[ps 1][9] Jonathan Edwards – small bear[ps 3][25] Jonathan – Piebald rat[ps 3] Josiah – Badger[ps 3][25] Manchu – Pekingese[9][25] Maude – Pig[25] Peter – Rabbit[ps 3][25] Pete – Bull Terrier[9][25][7] Rollo – Saint Bernard Skip – Mongrel[9][25] Sailor Boy – Chesapeake Bay Retriever[9][25] Tom Quartz and Slippers – Cats[ps 1] (Unknown) – Hyena;[ps 3] barn owl; one-legged rooster[25]
William Howard Taft	Caruso – Dog[ps 1] Mooly Wooly and Pauline Wayne – Cows[ps 1]
Woodrow Wilson	Davie – Airedale Terrier[9] Old Ike – Ram Puffins – Cat[ps 1] Mountain Boy – Greyhound Bruce – Bull Terrier Songbirds[ps 2][ps 3][ps 4] Sheep[ps 2][ps 4]
Warren G. Harding	Laddie Boy Laddie Boy (1920–1929) – Airedale Terrier[7][9] Old Boy – Bulldog[9] Petey – canary[26]
Calvin Coolidge	Portrait of Rob Roy and Grace Coolidge Rob Roy and Prudence Prim – White collies[9] Peter Pan – Terrier[ps 1][9] Paul Pry – Airedale Terrier[9] Calamity Jane – Shetland Sheepdog[9] Tiny Tim and Blackberry – Chow Chows[9] Ruby Rouch – Collie[9] Boston Beans – Bulldog[9] King Cole – German Shepherd[9] Palo Alto – Bird dog[9] Bessie – Collie Rebecca and Horace – Raccoons[ps 3][27] Ebeneezer – Donkey Nip and Tuck – Canaries Enoch – Goose[ps 3] Smoky – Bobcat Tiger – Cat[ps 1] Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau – Lion cubs Billy – Pygmy hippopotamus A wallaby A duiker (a very small type of antelope) A black bear
Herbert Hoover	Herbert Hoover with King Tut King Tut – Belgian Shepherd[28][29] Pat – German Shepherd[28] Big Ben and Sonnie – Fox Terriers[9][30] Glen – Scotch Collie[9] Yukonan – Eskimo dog[9] Patrick – Irish Wolfhound[28] Eaglehurst Gillette – Setter[28] Weejie – Norwegian Elkhound[28] Two alligators[31]
Franklin D. Roosevelt	FDR and Fala (1940) Fala (1940–1952) – Scottish Terrier[12] Major – German Shepherd[28] Meggie – Scottish Terrier[28] Winks – Llewellyn Setter[28] Tiny – Old English Sheepdog[28] President – Great Dane[7][28] Blaze – Bullmastiff[28]
Harry S. Truman	Feller – Cocker Spaniel[28][32] Mike – Irish Setter[28]
Dwight D. Eisenhower	Heidi – Weimaraner[28]
John F. Kennedy	Kennedy family and dogs Gaullie – Poodle[33] Charlie – Welsh Terrier[28] Tom Kitten – Cat[ps 1][34] Robin – Canary[34] Bluebell and Marybelle – Parakeets[34] Macaroni – Pony[35] Moe;– Doberman Pinscher[34] Tex and Leprechaun – Ponies[34] Debbie and Billie – Hamsters[34] Pushinka – dog (gift of Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev, puppy of Soviet space dog Strelka)[7] Shannon – Irish Cocker Spaniel[28] Wolf – Dog, mix of Irish Wolfhound and Schnauzer[36] Clipper – Harlequin beauceron[37] Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie, and Streaker – (offspring of Pushinka and Charlie)[28] Zsa Zsa – Rabbit Sardar – Horse[ps 1][38]
Lyndon B. Johnson	LBJ with Him Him and Her – Beagles[28][39][40] Edgar – Beagle[7][28][39][40] Blanco – white Collie[28][39][40] Freckles – Beagle[28] Yuki – Mongrel dog[28][39][40] Hamsters[ps 1] and lovebirds[ps 3][41]
Richard Nixon	King Timahoe, Vicki and Pasha looking out the window in the White House Vicki – Poodle[28][42] Pasha – Terrier[28][42] King Timahoe – Irish Setter[28][42][43] Checkers[7] (1952–1964) – Cocker Spaniel[nb 1]
Gerald Ford	Susan Ford, daughter of Gerald Ford, and the family's siamese cat, Shan, in 1974 Ford and Liberty in the Oval Office Liberty (1974–1984) – Golden Retriever[28] Lucky – Dog*[7] Misty – (Liberty's puppy born in the White House) Shan – Siamese cat[44]
Jimmy Carter	Grits – Border Collie;[28][45] Given to his daughter Amy by her teacher, but quickly returned.[7][46] Lewis Brown – Afghan Hound Misty Malarky Ying Yang, daughter Amy Carter's pet – Siamese cat[27]
Ronald Reagan	Rex Ronald Reagan on El Alamein Lucky – Bouvier des Flandres[47][48][49] Rex (1984–1998) – Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.[49][50] Victory – Golden Retriever[48][49] Peggy – Irish Setter[48][49] m Taca – Siberian Husky[48][49] Fuzzy – Belgian sheepdog[48][49] Horses[ps 2][ps 1][ps 4] at Rancho del Cielo
George H. W. Bush	Millie Millie (1985–1997) – Springer Spaniel.[7] Ranger – one of Millie's puppies[28][51]
Bill Clinton	Socks Socks (1989–2009) – Chelsea's cat.[23] Buddy (1997–2002) – Bill's chocolate Labrador Retriever[23]
George W. Bush	India Spot "Spotty" Fetcher (1989–2004) – female English Springer Spaniel named after Scott Fletcher; Puppy of Millie;[7] Euthanized after suffering a series of strokes. Barney (2000–2013) – Scottish Terrier.[7][52] Miss Beazley (2004-2014) – Scottish Terrier; Nicknamed "Beazley Weazley"; 2005 birthday gift from George to his wife.[7][52] India "Willie" – cat (1990–2009) Ofelia – Longhorn cow (lives at Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch)
Barack Obama	Bo and Sunny Bo[7] (born October 9, 2008) – Portuguese Water Dog. Sunny[53][54] (born June 11, 2012) – Portuguese Water Dog.
Donald Trump	No known pets[19]

See also

• Canadian Parliamentary Cats
• Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, United Kingdom
• Hermitage cats in Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Pets of Vladimir Putin
• Tibs the Great
• Cats of the President of Taiwan
• Pets of the British Royal Family
• Pets in the United Kingdom

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pets of presidents of the United States.

• Presidential Pets Museum – Private museum in Glen Allen, Virginia
• Pets in the White House – White House for Kids (official Clinton archive)
• Morrow, Laurie Bogart, The Giant Book of Dog Names, p. 414
• Presidential Pets Leave Their Mark in The Jackson Sun, Accessed March 7, 2017.

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