Presidential Pets Through the Years

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Presidential Pets Through the Years

These pets are living the good life! From Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s dog, Fala, to Barack and Michelle Obama’s pooches Bo and Sunny, see some of the most famous four-legged friends who have roamed the halls of the White House. 

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Barack Obama

Barack and Michelle Obama promised daughters Sasha and Malia that they could get a dog once the family moved to Washington, D.C. The late Senator Ted Kennedy gifted Portuguese water dog Bo to the Obamas to fulfill the promise in 2009, and the family later brought home another Portuguese water dog, Sunny, in summer 2013. 

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George W. Bush

Barney and Miss Beazley were the beloved Scottish terriers owned by George W. Bush. Barney became so popular that he had his own website and starred in “Barneycam” videos that were filmed from a camera hung around his neck. 

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Bill Clinton

Bill and Hillary Clinton’s cat Socks and dog Buddy reportedly had to be kept in separate wings of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since they just didn’t get along. 

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George H. W. Bush

George H.W. and Barbara Bush were parents of English Springer Spaniels Millie and Ranger. Millie even became an author in 1990, “writing” Millie’s Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush. 

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Ronald Reagan

Ronald and Nancy Reagan kept several dogs and horses at their ranch in Santa Barbara, California. 

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Jimmy Carter

Grits — named for the Carters’ Southern roots — was given to Jimmy Carter’s daughter Amy by her teacher, but after only a short period, the family decided to give the dog back.

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Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford’s golden retriever Liberty gave birth to nine puppies at the official presidential residence. 

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Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was photographed petting his Irish setter King Timahoe while White House electrician Traphes Bryant walked the first family’s other pups, Pasha and Vicky.

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Lyndon B. Johnson

Once Lyndon B. Johnson became president, he redesigned the White House doghouse for his beagles, Him and Her.

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John F. Kennedy

JFK, his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and their children are seen playing with several of the first family’s pets on the porch of their Cape Cod home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

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Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight Eisenhower’s dog, Heidi, was banned from the White House after the canine had an accident on an expensive rug in the diplomatic reception room. The Weimaraner was sent to live on the Eisenhowers’ farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for the rest of his term.

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Harry Truman

The 33rd POTUS, owner of cocker spaniel, Feller, is thought to have said, “If you want a friend in Washington, buy a dog.”

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Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Scottish terrier, Fala, was his constant travel companion, and at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C., the pooch is immortalized with his own statue. 

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Herbert Hoover

While Herbert Hoover’s Belgian Shepherd pup King Tut was in the spotlight, his family also had a pet possum named Billy and multiple alligators that were kept in a bathtub and later donated to the Smithsonian Zoo.