(In case you’ve ever wondered, as I did, what kind of non-human family members our First Families brought to the Whitehouse)
PRESIDENT FRIEND(S)
Washington Polly the Parrot, 36 hounds, multitude of horses
Adams Horses
Jefferson A mockingbird; two bear cubs, (a gift from Lewis and Clark)
Madison Macaw the parrot; sheep (back then, apparently not a cattle man)
Monroe A cocker spaniel
J.Q. Adams An alligator and silkworms (OK!?)
Jackson Horses named Truxton, Sam Patches, Emily, Lady Nashville, and Bolivia; Pol the parrot; ponies
Van Buren Two tiger cubs (The Whitehouse staff must have LOVED this! Cleaning the litter pans must have been like panning
for kitty poo and hitting the mother-load!)
Harrison A goat and a cow
Tyler Le Beau, a greyhound; a horse named The General
Polk A horse
Taylor Old Whitey the horse
Filmore No pets (Boo, hiss!)
Buchanan Lara the Newfoundland, an eagle, and an elephant (no I’m not on anything or seeing things!)
Lincoln Jack the turkey, Nanny and Nanko the goats, multiple cats, dogs, pigs, and a white rabbit
Johnson White mice (now what other kind of mice would you find in the WHITE house?)
Grant A number of horses, pigs, dogs, a parrot and a number or roosters (maybe he was allergic to eggs?)
Hayes A Siamese cat, a greyhound, an English mastiff, a Newfoundland, and a terrier
Garfield A horse, a dog and fish
Arthur No pets (Boo, hiss!)
Cleveland A poodle, canaries and a mockingbird
Harrison Three dogs, a goat and an opossum (An opossum? whatever trips your trigger I guess!)
McKinley A parrot, and Angora cat and her multiple litters of kittens (Crazy Cat President?)
T.Roosevelt Multiple dogs, cats, a pony, a macaw, a multiple species of snakes, twelve horses, five bears, five guinea pigs, two kangaroo
Rats, roosters, an owl, a flying squirrel, a racoon, a coyote, a ltion, a hyena and a zebra (White House dubbed the “National Zoo!)
Taft Pauline the cow
Wilson Old Ike the ram, sheep, chickens, cats
Harding Laddie Boy the Airedale, Old Boy the bulldog and canaries
Coolidge Multiple dogs, canaries, cats, a goose, a mockingbird, a bear, a wallaby, a pygmy hippo and three lion cubs
(and you thought what we are given the choice to vote for today have idiosyncrasies?)
Hoover Eight dogs and an opossum (Another opossum! Different stroke . . . I mean, if you’re really into big rats!?)
F.D.R. Seven dogs
Truman An Irish setter and Feller the “unwanted dog” (adopted by Truman’s personal physician)
Eisenhower Heidi a Weimaraner (Normalcy once again returns to the Whitehouse? I knew there was a reason “I liked Ike!”
Kennedy A cat, a canary, a rabbit, a horse, ponies, parakeets, hamsters, five dogs (plus pups)
L.B.J. Three beagles (Him, Her and Freckles), a collie, hansters and lovebirds. (Incidentally, “Him” was her and “Her” was him. Johnson apparently discovered this when “Him” had pups. I’d often wondered if he was on top of things!)
Nixon A cocker spaniel, a poodle, a terrier, an Irish Setter and fish
Ford A golden retriever and a Siamese cat
Carter Grits the dog and Misty Malarky Ying Yang the Siamese cat
Reagan A King Charles spaniel and a Bouvier des Flangres sheepdog
Bush Millie the springer spaniel and one of her pups
Obama The Obamas had two Portuguese water dogs. Their choice was because Malia is allergic to dog hair.
Trump No pets. (I’m surprised! Somehow I envisioned him throwing table scraps to a Komodo Dragon!)
Biden President Biden had two German Shepherds (one passed away earlier this year), one of which he adopted from a shelter.
(You Go, Joe!)
We need to elect a president from Florida so we can have some diversity when it comes to pets in the Whitehouse. John Quincy Adams did have an alligator, but some of SoFlo’s best pet possibilities have been overlooked. Many of our presidents had horses, but BIG DEAL . . . we have ROACHES you can ride. And instead of killing all those beautiful pythons, why not head em’up and move em’ up to the Whitehouse to replace all the high-priced Whitehouse security staff. I can think of a few presidents we’ve had that could have used a good HUG! And imagine watching the news to see the President and First Lady walking their iguanas? What more perfect way to remind everyone to THINK GREEN! I will now remove my tongue from my cheek and bid you farewell until next time. Besides, I have to go out to the pool and feed Iggy and her brood.
I’m a BAD GIRL. 😉 Allie