Presidential Pets

Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff

U.S. presidents and their families have typically liked animals. Creatures from mice to bears have made a home at the White House and its grounds. The following list of presidential pets is not complete, however, as no doubt many a presidential cat or cow passed through without much public notice.

President Harding with his dog, Laddie
Library of Congress
President Harding with his dog Laddie
President Animals
George Washington Polly the parrot; 36 hounds; horses
John Adamshorses
Thomas Jeffersona mockingbird; two bear cubs, a gift from Lewis and Clark
James MadisonMacaw the parrot; sheep
James Monroea spaniel
John Quincy Adams an alligator; silkworms
Andrew Jacksonhorses named Truxton, Sam Patches, Emily, Lady Nashville, and Bolivia; Pol the parrot; ponies
Martin Van Burentwo tiger cubs
William Henry Harrisona goat; a cow
John TylerLe Beau, a greyhound; a horse named The General
James Knox Polka horse
Zachary TaylorOld Whitey the horse
Millard Fillmoreno pets
Franklin Pierceno pets
James BuchananLara, a Newfoundland; an eagle; an elephant
Abraham Lincoln Jack the turkey; goats named Nanny and Nanko; ponies; cats; dogs; pigs; a white rabbit
Andrew Johnsonwhite mice
Ulysses S. GrantFaithful, a Newfoundland; horses named Jeff Davis, Julia, Jennie, Mary, Butcher Boy, Cincinnatus, Egypt, and St. Louis; ponies named Reb and Billy Button; pigs; dogs; a parrot; roosters
Rutherford B. HayesSiam, a Siamese cat; Grim, a greyhound; Duke, an English mastiff; Hector, a Newfoundland; Dot, a terrier; canaries; cows; horses; goats; other dogs
James GarfieldKit the horse; Veto the dog; fish
Chester Alan Arthurno pets
Grover Clevelanda poodle; canaries and mockingbirds
Benjamin HarrisonDash the dog; Whiskers the goat; dogs; an opossum
William McKinleya parrot; an Angora cat and her kittens
Theodore Roosevelt Sailor Boy, a Chesapeake Bay retriever; Manchu, a Pekingese; Skip, a mutt; terriers named Jack and Pete; cats named Tom Quartz and Slippers; Josiah the badger; Algonquin the pony; Eli the macaw; Jonathan the piebald rat; Emily Spinach, a garter snake; twelve horses; five bears; five guinea pigs; other snakes; two kangaroo rats; lizards; roosters; an owl; a flying squirrel; a raccoon; a coyote; a lion; a hyena; a zebra
William TaftPauline Wayne the cow
Woodrow WilsonOld Ike the ram; sheep; chickens; cats
Warren HardingLaddie Boy, an Airedale; Old Boy, a bulldog; canaries
Calvin Coolidge Peter Pan, a terrier; Paul Pry (née Laddie Buck), an Airedale; Calamity Jane, a sheepdog; Boston Beans, a bulldog; King Cole, a shepherd; Palo Alto, a birder; collies named Rob Roy (née Oshkosh), Prudence Prim, Ruby Rough, and Bessie; chows named Blackberry and Tiny Tim; canaries named Nip, Tuck, and Snowflake; cats named Bounder, Tiger, and Blacky; raccoons named Rebecca and Horace; Ebeneezer, a donkey; Smokey, a bobcat; Old Bill, a thrush; Enoch, a goose; a mockingbird; a bear; an antelope; a wallaby; a pygmy hippo; some lion cubs
Herbert HooverGlen, a collie; Yukon, a malamute; Patrick, an Irish wolfhound; Eaglehurst Gillette, a setter; Weejie, an elkhound; fox terriers named Big Ben and Sonnie; shepherds named King Tut and Pat; an opossum
Franklin Delano RooseveltFala, a Scottish terrier; Meggie, a Scottish terrier; Major, a German shepherd; Winks, a Llewellyn setter; Tiny, an English sheepdog; President, a Great Dane; Blaze, a mastiff
Harry S TrumanFeller “the unwanted dog” (adopted by Truman's personal physician); Mike, an Irish setter (belonged to Margaret Truman)
Dwight D. EisenhowerHeidi, a Weimaraner
John F. KennedyTom Kitten the cat; Robin the canary; Zsa Zsa the rabbit; Sardar the horse; ponies named Macaroni, Tex, and Leprechaun; parakeets named Bluebell and Marybelle; hamsters named Debbie and Billie; Charlie, a Welsh terrier, plus dogs named Pushinka, Shannon, Wolf, and Clipper, plus Pushinka and Charlie's pups: Blackie, Butterfly, Streaker, and White Tips
Lyndon JohnsonHim and Her, beagles; Freckles, a beagle (Him's pup); Blanco, a collie; Edgar, a mutt (née J. Edgar); Yuki, a mutt; hamsters and lovebirds
Richard NixonCheckers, a cocker spaniel; Vicky, a poodle; Pasha, a terrier; King Timahoe, an Irish setter; fish
Gerald FordLiberty, a Golden retriever; Chan, a Siamese Cat
Jimmy CarterGrits the dog; Misty Malarky Ying Yang, a Siamese cat
Ronald ReaganRex, a King Charles spaniel; Lucky, a Bouvier des Flandres sheepdog
George H. W. BushMillie, a Springer spaniel; Ranger, one of Millie's pups
Bill ClintonSocks the cat; Buddy, a chocolate Labrador retriever
George W. BushSpot, a Springer spaniel, born in the White House in 1989 to George H. W. Bush's Millie (died Feb. 21, 2004); Barney, a Scottish terrier; India (“Willie”) the cat. The Bushes' orange-striped polydactyl cat Ernie was judged too wild for White House life and now lives with a family in California. In 2004, the President gave his wife Laura a Scottish terrier puppy named Miss Beazley for the First Lady's birthday.
Barack ObamaBo, a Portuguese water dog, joined the Obama family on April 14, 2009. The family took its time selecting a breed, which had to be hypoallergenic because Malia has allergies. The Obamas introduced another Portuguese water dog, Sunny, to the family on August 19, 2013.
Sources +