On US Presidents...their pets and foibles....

This starts out being about "Presidential Pet Stories", which we can assume involves mostly dogs and maybe an occasional cat and perhaps a bird or two. But it gets better with Lions and Tigers and Bears (oh my!).


Two of my favorite stories...

Andrew Jackson taught his pet parrot, Pol, to swear. Pol outlived Jackson, and in fact had to be removed from Jackson's funeral service because it wouldn't stop cursing.

 Calvin Coolidge is known for not talking much, but maybe, like Dr. Doolittle, he talked to the animals – he certainly had enough of them in the White House with him. 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. Coolidge started acquiring kooky pets while he was Vice President – was he our first presidential animal hoarder? – and is said to have walked his raccoon, Rebecca, around the White House on a leash or draped around his neck.

I would have like to have seen that!

Love,
Buddy