The White House has always been home to different kinds of pets of the United States Presidents from dogs and cats to raccoons and ponies. We will take you through a historical period of all the Presidents who have had a pet or pets at the White House:
- In 1922, President Warren G Harding and the First Lady Florence Harding owned a dog called Laddie Boy.
2. In 1926, First Lady Grace Cooliodge, wife of President Calvin Coolidge had a pet raccoon named Rebecca. It was given to the family as a gift to be cooked and served for Thanksgiving dinner. However, the family fell in love with the pet and decided to adopt and keep her instead. The pet had a collar which had an engraving saying “White House Raccoon”. After the family left the White House, Rebecca was sent to the zoo to live with other raccoons. The first lady also had a pet dog.
3. Speaking of unusual pets, President Hoover, the next President after Coolidge introduced another pet to the White House – A wild opossum named Billy Possum. The animal was captured by the police officials and was meant to be killed but the President decided to keep it as a pet instead. The opossum was placed in the pen that was originally built for Calvin Coolidge’s pet raccoon Rebecca.
4. In 1961, the Kennedy family had two dogs in the White House, Charlie and Pushnika. Kennedy also gave his daughter a pony named Macaroni by Lyndon B Johnson.
5. Speaking of Lyndon Johnson, in 1964, the President had a beagle, Yuki which is the breed of the dog in the White House with him. He also had another dog, Blanco whom he was very fond of. Yuki was found abandoned at a petrol station and was bought home by Mr. Johnson’s daughter. The President was an avid lover of animals and gave all liberty to his dogs. He even singed a few important nation bills with his dogs on his lap.
6. In 1975, President Gerald Ford had a pet Golden Retriever named Liberty.
7. In 1985, Ronald Reagan had a dog named Lucky.
8. In 1989, George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush had a dog named Millie who even gave birth to a litter of adorable puppies!
9. Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton are big time animal lovers. In 1993, when he was President, he had a pet cat named Socks, and a dog named Buddy.
10. In 2010, President Barack Obama and first Lady Michelle Obama had a dog named Bo.
11. In 2017, Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States but never had any animals or never allowed them inside the premises.
12. In 2021, President Joe Biden bought along two of his dogs, both German Shepherds, Champ and Major to the White House. Biden is currently the standing President of the United States at the moment.
