United States presidential pets

History of White House dogs

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."[2] What was later called the ‘Fala Speech’ reportedly turned the election around for Roosevelt.

Richard Nixon was accused of hiding a secret slush fund during his candidacy for vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. He gave a televised "Checkers speech" named after his cocker spaniel; denying he had a slush fund but admitted that, "there is one thing that I did get as a gift that I'm not going to give back.”[3] The gift was a black and white cocker spaniel, Checkers, given to his daughters. Although Nixon had been in danger of being kicked off 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”.[4][5]

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

On the other hand, many believe that President Lyndon B. Johnson’s image was damaged because of his pets. He was photographed picking his two Beagle dogs named Him and Her up by their ears. Much of the public was outraged and animal lovers spoke out against it. Others however did not understand the purpose of the uproar and President Harry S. Truman was even reported to have said, "What the hell are the critics complaining about; that's how you handle hounds."[6] While it may not have hurt his presidency, this scandal shed a new light on the president's image.

List of Presidential pets
Barack Obama


* Bo - Portuguese Water Dog

George W. Bush

* Spot "Spotty" Fetcher (Mar 17, 1989 – Feb 21, 2004) - female English Springer Spaniel named after Scott Fletcher; Puppy of Millie; Euthanized after suffering a series of strokes.
* Barney - Scottish Terrier
* Miss Beazley (b. Oct 28, 2004) - Scottish Terrier; Nicknamed "Beazley Weazley"; 2005 birthday gift from George to his wife.
* India "Willie" - cat (b.1990-d.January 4, 2009)
* Ofelia - Longhorn cow (lives at Bush's Crawford ranch)

Bill Clinton

* Socks - Chelsea's cat (b.March 1989-d. February 20, 2009)
* Buddy - Bill's chocolate Labrador Retriever (b.1997-Jan 2, 2002)

George H. W. Bush

* Millie - Springer Spaniel
* Ranger - one of Millie's puppies[7][8]

Ronald Reagan

* Lucky - Bouvier des Flandres[9][10][11]
* Rex - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel [11][12]
* Victory - Golden Retriever [10][11]
* Peggy - Irish Setter [10][11]
* Taca - Siberian Husky [10][11]
* Fuzzy - Belgian sheepdog [10][11]
* Horses at Rancho del Cielo

Jimmy Carter

* Grits - Border Collie[8][13]; Given to his daughter Amy by her teacher, but quickly returned.[14]
* Lewis Brown - Afghan Hound[15]
* Misty Malarky Ying Yang, daughter Amy Carter's pet - Siamese cat[16]

Gerald Ford

* Liberty - Golden Retriever[8]
* Misty - (Liberty's puppy born in the White House)
* Shan - Siamese cat[17]

Richard Nixon

* Vicki - Poodle [8][18]
* Pasha - Terrier [8][18]
* King Timahoe - Irish Setter [8][18][19]
* Checkers - Cocker Spaniel (note: Checkers died while Nixon was vice-president, before becoming president, but had played a major role in his electoral career)

Lyndon B. Johnson

* Him and Her - beagles [8][20][21]
* Edgar- beagle [8][20][21]
* Blanco - white Collie [8][20][21]
* Freckles - Beagle [8]
* Yuki - mongrel [8][20][21]
* Hamsters and lovebirds[22]

John F. Kennedy

* Gaullie - Poodle[23]
* Charlie - Welsh Terrier [8]
* Tom Kitten - cat[24]
* Robin - canary[25]
* Bluebell and Marybelle - parakeets[26]
* Macaroni - pony [27]
* Tex and Leprechaun - ponies[28]
* Debbie and Billie - hamsters[29]
* Pushinka - mutt (gift of Russian premier, puppy of Soviet space dog Strelka)
* Shannon - Irish Cocker Spaniel [8]
* Wolf - (mutt, possibly part Wolfhound and Schnauzer)
* Clipper - German Shepherd[30]
* Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie, and Streaker - (offspring of Pushinka and Charlie)[8]
* Zsa Zsa - a rabbit
* Sardar - horse[31]