Presidents' Day at the White House
Just how does the president celebrate Presidents’ Day? Throughout the more than 200-year history of the White House, presidents themselves ha...
White House Pets: Merry Menagerie
Gallery
-
1 of 8
Alice Roosevelt with a family parrot, ca. 1904.
Library of Congress -
2 of 8
Kermit Roosevelt holding his rat terrier Jack, ca. 1902.
Library of Congress -
3 of 8
President Roosevelt frolics with Rollo, his St. Bernard, ca. 1906.
Theodore Roosevelt Collection, Harvard College Library -
4 of 8
President Theodore Roosevelt and family, 1907.
Library of Congress -
5 of 8
Kennedy family at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, 1963.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
6 of 8
Caroline Kennedy's pet ducks march toward the pond on the South Grounds of the White House.
White House Historical Association -
7 of 8
John Kennedy, Caroline, and John Jr. with Macaroni outside the Oval Office, 1962.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA -
8 of 8
Mixed breed Pushinka with her pups on the White House lawn, 1963.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
Two of the youngest presidents to reside in the White House brought their families and a menagerie of pets along with them. A pony, sheep, dogs, cats, a macaw, guinea pigs, rats, a snake, and many more animal friends lived at the Theodore Roosevelt White House. In 1908 the Washington Evening Star observed, "There is no home in Washington so full of pets of high and low degree as is the White House, and those pets not only occupy the attention of the children, but the President is himself their good friend, and has a personal interest in every one of them."
The family of John F. Kennedy brought pet hamsters Debbie and Billie; a gray cat, Tom Kitten; and a canary, Robin, to the White House. Eventually, ponies Macaroni and Tex; Pushinka; Welsh terrier Charley; German shepherd Clipper; cocker spaniel Shannon; parakeets Maybelle and Bluebell; and Wolf, an Irish wolfhound, would come and go.
You Might Also Like
-
-
Hoover's Retreat: Rapidan Camp
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, 100 miles from Washington, Camp Rapidan served President Herbert Hoover and First Lady...
-
The Presidential Sweet Tooth
As the holidays approach, thoughts inevitably turn to sugar plums, gingerbread, and all of the other delectable treats that season...
-
White House Thanksgiving Turkeys in the Roaring '20s
First families received turkeys as gifts long before the 1920s. Horace Vose, the “Poultry King” of southwestern Rhode Island, first sent...
-
Secret Service and the Presidents
Historian William Seale has described presidential protection as a learning process, with presidents and their families and the Secret Service...
-
The American Protective League and White House Security During World War One
The United States remained neutral during the early years of World War I, from the outbreak of hostilities in August, 1914,...
-
USS Potomac: Franklin Roosevelt's Presidential Yacht
Many presidents have used ships for both relaxation and diplomacy. From fishing to meetings with foreign dignitaries, water travel provides...
-
Christmas with the Roosevelts
The White House has many holiday traditions, some of which are historic and others more recent. New arrivals to the...
-
Reflections: A Secret Garden
Tucked away on the South Lawn, behind a tall hedge of hollies, is the White House Children’s Garden, a sp...
-
Alice Roosevelt Longworth: Presidential Daughter and American Celebrity
“I can do one of two things, I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice. I...
-
"A Unique Privilege"
On June 11, 1945, nearly two months into his presidency, Harry Truman wrote to his daughter Margaret: “you evidently are just finding ou...
-
Nellie Arthur in the White House
Nellie Arthur, daughter of President Chester Arthur, did not like the White House when she first took residence there in 1881....