A Man and His Dog

Bo Obama - Official White House portrait


Most of us are familiar with the saying, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.". It would seem that the majority of the Presidents have seen fit to take this advice wholeheartedly. There has seldom been a Presidency without a White House dog.  Some Presidents were not dog people but had other pets, while others were absolutely pet crazy to the point of having zoos.  Only one is known to have no pets at all. This probably explains why almost no one can remember Chester A. Arthur. I mean if you can't even get a a dog to love you ... just saying.

Franklin Roosevelt & Fala

While several Presidential dogs have met the press, only one has had a speech made about him broadcast on all networks in the middle of a war. President's Roosevelt's "Fala Speech" is so famous, it is on You Tube for your pleasure.

These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks, but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I had left him behind on the Aleutian Islands and had sent a destroyer back to find him - at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or twenty million dollars- his Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself - such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog.

President Bill Clinton & Buddy

Barbara Bush & Millie

Barack Obama - Bo - Portuguese Water Dog

George W. Bush - Spot - English Springer Spaniel; Barney & Miss Beazley - Scottish Terriers.

Bill Clinton - Buddy - Labrador Retriever
George H. W. Bush • Millie & Ranger - Springer Spaniels

Ronald Reagan • Lucky - Bouvier des Flandres • Rex - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel • Victory - Golden Retriever • Peggy - Irish Setter • Taca - Siberian Husky Fuzzy - Belgian sheepdog

Jimmy Carter • Lewis Brown - Afghan Hound
Gerald Ford • Liberty & Misty - Golden Retrievers

Richard Nixon • Vicki - Poodle • Pasha - Terrier • King Timahoe - Irish Setter • Checkers - Cocker Spaniel (Technically Checkers was a VP dog as he passed away before Nixon became president, but he did get another famous speech)

Lyndon B. Johnson • Him and Her, Edgar, Freckles - beagles; • Blanco - white Collie • Yuki – Dogs

John F. Kennedy • Gaullie - Poodle • Charlie - Welsh Terrier • Pushinka - Dog • Shannon - Irish Cocker Spaniel, Wolf - Wolfhound & Schnauzer mix • Clipper - German Shepherd; Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie, and Streaker - Dogs

Dwight D. Eisenhower  • Heidi - Weimaraner

Harry S. Truman • Feller - Cocker Spaniel • Mike - Irish Setter

Franklin D. Roosevelt  • Fala & Meggie - Scottish Terriers; Majora - German Shepherd • Winks - Llewellyn Setter • Tiny - Old English Sheepdog • President - Great Dane • Blaze - Mastiff

Herbert Hoover • King Tut Belgian Shepherd • Pat - German Shepherd • Big Ben and Sonnie - Fox Terriers;  Glen - Scotch Collie • Yukonan - Eskimo dog • Patrick - Irish Wolfhound • Eaglehurst Gillette - Setter • Weejie - Norwegian Elkhound

Calvin Coolidge • Rob Roy and Prudence Prim - White collies • Peter Pan - Terrier • Paul Pry - Airedale Terrier • Calamity Jane - Shetland Sheepdog
Tiny Tim and Blackberry - Chow Chows • Ruby Rouch - Collie; Boston Beans - Bulldog; King Cole - German shepherd • Palo Alto - Bird dog • Bessie - Collie

Warren G. Harding  • Laddie Boy - Airedale Terrier • Old Boy - Bulldog

Woodrow Wilson • Davie - Airedale Terrier • Bruce - Bull Terrier

William Howard Taft • Caruso - Dog

Theodore Roosevelt • Pete - Bull Terrier • Skip, Blackjack, Jack & Peter - Terriers • Manchu - Pekingese • Rollo - Saint Bernard • Sailor Boy - Chesapeake Bay Retriever • Gem and Susan - Dogs

William McKinley • No Dogs

Benjamin Harrison • Dash - Collie
Grover Cleveland • poodle
Chester A. Arthur • No record of any pets

James A. Garfield • Veto - Dog

Rutherford B. Hayes • Dot - Cocker Spaniel • Hector - Newfoundland • Duke - English Mastiff • Grim - Greyhound • Juno and Shep - Hunting dogs • Jet - Dog
Ulysses S. Grant • Faithful - Newfoundland;  Rosie - Dog

Andrew Johnson • No Dogs

Abraham Lincoln • Fido & Jip - Dogs

James Buchanan • Lara - Newfoundland • Punch - Toy Terrier

Franklin Pierce • Miniature Oriental dogs (Gift from Admiral Perry after mission to Japan)

Millard Fillmore • No Dogs

Zachary Taylor • No Dogs

James K. Polk • No Dogs

John Tyler • Le Beau - Italian Greyhound

William Henry Harrison - No Dogs

Martin Van Buren • No Dogs

Andrew Jackson • No Dogs

John Quincy Adams • No Dogs

James Monroe • Unknown Name Spaniel

James Madison • No Dogs

Thomas Jefferson • Buzzy and unknown name - Briards

John Adams • Juno and Satan - Dogs

George Washington • Sweet Lips, Scentwell and Vulcan - American Staghounds • Drunkard, Taster, Tipler and Tipsy - Black and Tan Coonhounds (As the largest distiller of whiskey in the colonies, it is interesting that Washington's dogs seem to have had a drinking problem.)

Here is a full list of all the strange and wonderful animals that have called the White House home.

Here is a nice slideshow of many of the modern Presidents with their animals.