A History of Mutts in the White House

While politics have taken a toll on the world these past few months, let’s take a step back from the noise this Presidents’ Day and focus on the one thing that can bring a smile to everyone’s face - dogs of the White House! 31 of the 46 presidents (yes, this is including our latest president, Joe Biden) have had at least one dog in the West Wing with them! Although President Trump was the first to not have a dog in the White House in 100 years, President Biden brings with him two dogs to restart canine companions calling the White House home. 

Let’s take a look at a history of all the four-legged companions that have graced the White House floors!

George Washington was known as a dog lover and he shared his two terms with 17 dogs; however the White House was only in construction during his presidency. The construction of the White House was nearly complete in 1800 when our second president, John Adams, moved in with his wife Abigail and brought along two mixed-breed pups, Juno and Satan. They became the first pups to christen the White House lawn, with many more to follow! Unfortunately no canines would be inhabiting the White House again after Adams left until our fifth president, James Monroe, moved in along with his wife, children and his youngest daughter’s pet Spaniel in 1817.

Man’s best friend wouldn’t be brought back into the Oval Office until 1841 with our tenth president, John Tyler. He was gifted an Italian Greyhound named Le Beau by the consul of Naples “to grace the White House lawn.” Tyler also imported two Wolfhounds from Ireland for his wife Julia. In 1853 President Franklin Pierce moved 7 small dogs (along with his family) into the White House. Following Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan brought with him a toy terrier named Punch and a Newfoundland named Lara.

Abraham Lincoln took office after James Buchanan and brought along an array of animals including one of his two dogs, Jip. Fido, his other dog, was a yellow mutt Lincoln found wandering as a stray in his hometown of Springfield. When Lincoln moved into the White House, unfortunately Fido was left behind in Springfield to be cared for by close family and friends as there was a concern that the long trip would be too stressful for his faithful old companion. 

Ulysses S. Grant was a huge dog lover and brought canines back into the White House in 1869 with a Newfoundland named Faithful, owned by Grant’s son Jesse. Grant let his staff know that “if this dog dies, every employee in the White House will at once be discharged” since his son had already faced heartache over losing another canine companion previously. 

President Rutherford B. Hayes moved into the White House in 1877 and brought along 8 dogs, along with a variety of other animals including several cows and even a goat! Among his canine companions to come to the White House were a Newfoundland named Hector, an English Mastiff named Duke, a Greyhound named Grim, a Miniature Schnauzer named Otis, Dot the Cocker Spaniel, Jet the mutt and two hunting dogs named Juno and Shep. 

James Garfield also brought a Newfoundland into the White House during his presidency and named his dog Veto. After Garfield left the White House, it was several years before canines occupied the pristine mansion once again. It wasn’t until Grover Cleveland took office that he brought a pack of assorted dogs back into the White House. He is said to have shared his presidential duties with a Cocker Spaniel, a Collie, a St. Bernard, a few Dachshunds, several Foxhounds, and a beloved French Poodle named Hector who belonged to Mrs. Cleveland. 

President Benjamin Harrison took office once Cleveland left, bringing with him several dogs, including Dash, his favorite Collie, but Theodore Roosevelt, who has been thought of as perhaps one of the most animal loving presidents of all time, opened up the White House home to nearly 40 pets during his presidency. Out of the 40 pets Roosevelt had, 6 of them were dogs: Pete, a Bull Terrier, Rollo, a St. Bernard, Sailor Boy, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Jack, a Manchester Terrier, Skip the Rat Terrier and Manchu, the Pekingese. Skip has been said to have been the president's favorite dog, as he would find the president after the kids went to bed to curl up on his lap while the president enjoyed reading. Unfortunately, Pete did not last long at the White House due to his unruly behavior of nipping at the heels of White House visitors and was eventually banned to Sagamore Hill after he ripped the pants leg of the French Ambassador one day.

The first dog to take the spotlight at the White House was Warren G. Harding’s Airedale Terrier named Laddie Boy. He accompanied the family almost everywhere, including cabinet meetings where Laddie Boy had his own chair! To this day, he has received more media attention than any other White House pet.

Our 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, took bringing pets to the White House to a whole other level when he moved into the mansion with 13 dogs and an entourage of a variety of animals! Among his canines were 2 white Collies named Prudence Prim and Rob Roy. Prudence Prim was favored by Mrs. Coolidge and was often spotted wearing a bonnet while Rob Roy is known as the first dog pictured in an official White House portrait. A Shetland Sheepdog named Calamity Jane can be credited with some changes within the White House, specifically a washtub that was installed especially for bathing presidential dogs as a result of Calamity Jane’s love for all things dirty.

Keeping up with having a number of canines, Herbert Hoover moved into the White House with 9 dogs (and 2 alligators). One of his canines, a Belgian Malinois named King Tut, was an instrumental part of his presidential campaign in 1928 as Hoover distributed autographed photos of himself and King Tut to give voters a more personable view of him. While King Tut called the White House his home, he took protection very seriously and was given a patrol job with the White House police force to monitor the home’s perimeter. 

After leaving the White House, Franklin Delano Roosevelt kept the mansion alive with canines as he brought 7 dogs with him; but the most famous of the dogs is Fala Roosevelt, a Scottish Terrier. The Terrier was a gift to the president with the name of ‘Big Boy’ but was renamed by Roosevelt to ‘Murray the Outlaw of Falahill’ after one of his Scottish ancestors. Fala slept in a special chair at the foot of the presidential bed and was treated to a bone every morning for breakfast from the president’s breakfast tray. 

While president Harry S. Truman preferred a pet free family after Roosevelt left office, Dwight D. Eisenhower came into office canine free, but after 2 years of living in the White House he brought home a Weimaraner puppy named Heidi. Unfortunately, Heidi had a weak bladder and one too many accidents inside the mansion (two of those accidents involved a WWII general and one with a priceless Persian rug) so she was sent to live at Eisenhower’s farm in Gettysburg where the First Family visited as often as they could to show her their love. 

Our next president was allergic to pet hair, but that didn’t stop John F. Kennedy from having multiple canines live at the White House with him and his family. He started his presidency with Charlie, a Welsh Terrier, who was a gift to the president from his wife during his presidential campaign. After his presidency began, the family grew their pack by adding an Irish Wolfhound named Wolfie, a black and white Spaniel named Shannon, a German Shepherd named Clipper and a mixed breed pup named Pushinka. Pushinka, which means fluffy in Russian, was given to Jackie as a gift from Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev. Later, Charlie and Pushinka had 4 puppies together and thousands of letters began to pour in from children asking to adopt their puppies. The First Lady asked the staff to pick 10 finalists from the thousands of letters that came in; from those 10, she selected 2 children to receive 2 of the puppies while the other 2 puppies went to family friends. 

Lyndon B. Johnson took presidency and was a pet parent to 6 dogs during his time in the White House, although beagles were his favorite breed. He had 2 beagles named Him and Her who were often photographed with the president and after Him’s death in 1966, J. Edgar Hoover gifted Johnson another beagle named Edgar. Johnson was given a little white terrier mix named Yuki from his daughter Luci on his birthday and the two became inseparable; they were often found ‘singing’ together for guests of the White House!

Although Richard Nixon’s presidency was full of scandal, he did share his Oval Office with a French Poodle named Vicky and a Yorkshire Terrier named Pasha. After his inauguration, his staff gave him an Irish Setter puppy for his birthday, which he named King Timahoe after a village in Ireland where the president’s family was from. The 3 dogs got along very well with each other and took up residency in a heated enclosure behind the West Wing. After Nixon’s resignation, Gerald Ford took up residence in the White House with Liberty, a Golden Retriever the Ford’s adopted. She was often spotted and photographed in the Oval Office and was bred with an award-winning Golden Retriever from Oregon where Liberty gave birth to 9 puppies in the White House!

Grits Carter, a Springer-Spaniel mix, joined the White House with Jimmy Carter and his family at just 12 weeks old and was born the same night that Carter won the election in 1976. Grits was gifted to the president’s daughter, Amy, by her fourth grade teacher and was named after Carter’s campaign slogan “Grits and Fritz.” While the Carter’s brought a puppy with them, the Reagans were dog-less for 3 years until Lucky, a 9 week old Bouvier des Flandes, was gifted to the first Lady. Lucky grew quickly and was a little too rambunctious for the White House, so she was sent to the Reagan's California ranch. With Lucky at the ranch, the president wanted another canine companion, so he gifted his wife Rex, a King Charles Cavalier Special for Christmas in 1985. Rex was named after the retired White House chief usher Rex Scouten and attended lots of public events with the president.

Following Reagan, George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara brought an English Springer Spaniel named Millie with them on their move into the White House. Millie became quite the celebrity while in the White House with publishing a best-selling book, appearing on TV shows and even making a cameo appearance on the Simpsons! Millie was also found sitting in on meetings in the Oval Office and on morning briefings with the president. 

Our next president was canine-less for his first term, but Bill Clinton made the mansion feel a little more like home by bringing in a Chocolate Labrador Retriever named Buddy. Buddy and the Clinton’s cat, Socks, did not get along very well and needed to be kept in separate quarters, but he was a fan favorite among children who often wrote Buddy letters. In 1998, Hilary Clinton published a book with all the letters called Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets.

When it was time for George W. Bush to take his residency in the White House, he brought back one of Millie Bushs’ pups from her litter, Spot. The Bush family also brought with them a Scottish Terrier named Barney, who had his own website with a “Barney Cam” for viewers to watch what he was up to and to see what famous White House guests he would meet. In 2005, the president gifted his wife with Miss Beazley, another Scottish Terrier who was named after a character in the 1956 children’s book “The Enormous Egg.” 

During his 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised his two daughters that they would get a dog if he won. During his acceptance speech, he told the girls that they had earned the puppy that would accompany them to the White House and so Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog, joined the Obama family in April of 2009. Bo appeared in one of Obama’s presidential campaign commercials, and when Obama won his second term as president, Sunny, another Portuguese Water Dog, joined the family at the White House in August of 2013.

While President Trump did not have a canine companion by his side during his presidential term, the newest leader to take over the White House, President Joe Biden, has made history by bringing in the first shelter dog to live in the mansion: Major, a German Shepherd. Biden also brings with him another German Shepherd named Champ who spent 8 years in the former vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory.

Politics can get a little messy when it comes to debating opinions on the matter, but let’s not forget that behind most of the presidents was a four legged ball of fluff that was their best friend. Let’s take this President’s Day to remember all the faithful canine companions who made it into the White House to help their human run our country. 

Looking back on all the pups that have graced the White House shows just how much we love our four legged friends. Keeping them healthy and at their best is a huge part of showing them our appreciation and what screams ‘we appreciate you’ more than daily walks, playtime and a chance to run around during the day?! A daily dog walker of course! Give your dog some presidential treatment this President’s Day with a daily dog walker from Going Mutts Pet Services. While you’re at the office or stuck inside at your home office, let Going Mutts Pet Services brave the elements for you to give your pup a walk and some playtime in the fresh air. Contact us TODAY for a free Meet n’ Greet!

Sources:

https://www.dogingtonpost.com/first-dogs-the-long-legacy-of-dogs-in-the-white-house/

https://www.bringfido.com/blog/history-of-dogs-in-the-white-house/