DETROIT – The father of our country is also, according to legend, the father of the American Foxhound. George Washington bred his own hounds, and so began a long love affair between U.S. Presidents and their pets.
Here is a list of our presidents and their pets they kept in or at the White House.
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This list was compiled by Shine from Yahoo from various sources.
George Washington: Foxhounds & mules
John Adams: a mixed-breed dog named Satan; some sources say his wife Abigail named the pooch
Thomas Jefferson: Briard dogs, and a mockingbird named Dick
James Madison's wife Dolley: a green parrot
James Monroe: sheepdogs, and a black spaniel that belonged to his granddaughter
John Quincy Adam: received a gift of an alligator, which Adams is said to have kept in a White House bathroom
Andrew Jackson: pet parrot named Pol, fighting roosters
Martin Van Buren: received two tiger cubs as a present from the Sultan of Oman. Van Buren regifted them to the zoo
William Henry Harrison: his pets included a goat and a cow
John Tyler: pet canary named "Johnny Ty," after himself, horse named "the General" and his Italian Greyhound "Le Beau," or "the beautiful one"
James K. Polk: Sources report him owning either "a horse" or "horses"
Zachary Taylor: – a horse named Old Whitey. When Taylor died only 16 months into his term, Old Whitey trailed the funeral parade.
Millard Fillmore: some claim he had two ponies named Mason and Dixon
Franklin Pierce: a gift of two dogs from Japan. Others say Pierce had no pets at all – but he did found the Buffalo, NY chapter of the ASPCA.
James Buchanan: a Newfoundland named Lara
Abraham Lincoln: pet goats Nanny and Nanko, a dog, Jip; kittens given to Lincoln by Secretary of State William Seward; and a turkey named Jack
Andrew Johnson: said to have fed white mice he found in his bedroom
Ulysses S. Grant: horses including Butcher Boy, Cincinnatus, Egypt, Jeff Davis and Jennie, Julia. Grant also had dogs – Rosie, and the Newfoundland named Faithful.
Rutherford B. Hayes: 7 different dog breeds, a goat, a mockingbird, and at least three cats
James Garfield: a horse named Kit, a fish, and a dog named Veto
Chester Arthur: horses
Grover Cleveland: mockingbirds and a bulldog named Hector
Benjamin Harrison: a goat named Whiskers, a Collie named Dash – and two opossums, Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection
William McKinley: yellow-headed Mexican parrot named Washington Post and Angora kittens named Valeriano Weyler and Enrique DeLome
Theodore Roosevelt: could have opened a zoo; several dogs, a fleet of guinea pigs, a macaw, a one-legged rooster, garter snake, a pig, lizard, and Josiah the badger; and various cats, mutts, rabbits, owls, ponies, and a hyena
William Howard Taft: a dog and cows that grazed the White House lawn
Woodrow Wilson: a cat named Puffins, a Greyhound named Mountain Boy, and a couple of terriers – but his most notable pet is Old Ike, a tobacco-chewing ram
Warren G. Harding: had an Airedale Terrier named Laddie Boy, and a Bulldog named Old Boy
Calvin Coolidge: White Collies named Rob Roy and Prudence Prim; Chows, Shelties, and Terriers; raccoons, canaries, and a bobcat; a pygmy hippo; a wallaby; a black bear; and lion cubs named Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau
Herbert Hoover: several dogs, including Big Ben and Sonnie, his Fox Terriers, King Tut (Belgian Shepherd), Pat (German Shepherd), Patrick (Irish Wolfhound), Weejie (Norwegian Elkhound), and various other breeds. His son Allan's alligators got to wander the White House grounds
FDR: numerous dogs including, his Scotties Fala and Meggie, Majora (German Shepherd), Tiny (Old English Sheepdog), President (Great Dane), and Blaze (Bull Mastiff)
Harry S. Truman: received two dogs while in the White House , but gave them away
Dwight Eisenhower: a Weimaraner anmed Heidi
JFK: a large collection of petss, including ponies (Macaroni, Tex, and Leprechaun), parakeets (Bluebelle and Marybelle), hamsters, cats, dogs, and a rabbit named Zsa Zsa.
Lyndon Johnson: Beagles, hamsters and lovebirds
Richard Nixon: three dogs – a Terrier named Pasha, a Poodle named Vicky, and an Irish Setter named Timahoe. Nixon's most famous pet, Checkers, died before Nixon won the presidency
Gerald Ford: Golden Retriever Liberty and Misty
Jimmy Carter: a Siamese cat, an Afghan Hound named Lewis Brown and a border collie named Grits
Ronald Reagan: Severa dogs, including Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Rex, a Bouvier Des Flandres named Lucky, a Golden named Victory, a Siberian Husky named Taca, and a Belgian Sheepdog named Fuzzy
George H.W. Bush: a Springer Spaniel named Millie
Bill Clinton: Socks the cat and a chocolate Lab named Buddy
George Bush: a Springer Spaniel named Spotty Fletcher, and Scottish Terriers Barney and Miss Beazley Weazley
Barack Obama: Bo a Portuguese Water Dog