Presidential Pets in the White House

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Over the years, there has been a parade of presidential pets in the White House, and they haven’t always been dogs.

Seeing which pets a prez has chosen is fascinating.

For example, Bill Clinton started with a black-and-white cat, Socks, which raised a few eyebrows in political consultant circles. Canines, not felines, are seen as a sign of strong leadership, they advised. (“If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog,” Harry Truman famously said.) Probably not a coincidence then that Clinton’s new pup Buddy eventually arrived on the scene, much to the cat’s chagrin.

President Obama’s curly-haired dog, Bo, is a Portuguese water dog. It was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy and his family.

Presidential pets at the White House include sheep!

The Bushes, meanwhile, liked their dogs smaller, and cats weren’t allowed: Dubya had Barney and Miss Beazley, Scottish terriers; and Papa Bush had Millie, a springer spaniel.

Jimmy Carter didn’t have a dog at all: His daughter’s teacher gave a dog named Grits as a gift, but Carter politely returned it. Of course, we can’t forget Nixon’s dog Checkers, made infamous when Nixon alluded to the cocker spaniel in a crafty speech that diverted attention away from possibly illegal campaign contributions.

So dogs (and sometimes cats) are seen as the safe choice for the commander in chief, but did you know there used to be pet goats and cows? It’s true.

Weird Presidential Pets

Horses and parrots were common during the first few presidential administrations. John Quincy Adams had an alligator. Martin Van Buren must have been tickled to death with his two tiger cubs (a gift from a sultan), but Congress made him send them to the zoo.

James Buchanan received a herd of elephants as a gift (though we can’t imagine they lived on the grounds).

Lincoln had a pig, a turkey and some goats. During his dark days of impeachment, Andrew Johnson fed a family of mice that hung around his bedroom. Now that’s a strange set of presidential pets in the White House!

Rutherford Hayes had some Jersey cows as well as America’s first siamese cat. Teddy Roosevelt’s White House lawn was a virtual zoo: He had a mongrel, a badger, snakes, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, roosters and lizards.

Woodrow Wilson kept sheep that grazed outside to reduce lawn care costs (really! pictured above) as well as a tobacco-chewing ram named Old Ike.

Nothing says “presidential” like a mean old ram.

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Tags bush dogs cocker spaniel political pets portuguese water dog springer spaniel