The Search for the Next White House Pet

Forget about Cabinet picks, people really want to know what type of dog will be moving in to the White House!

Before Bush’s dog Barney and Clinton’s cat Socks, there were many animals that strolled (and climbed, and slithered) through the halls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. With all the ballyhoo over what kind of dog the Obama girls will bring to their new home, White House Pets look back past the Bush years at all the President’s and their furry (and sometimes no-so-furry) friends, including:

George Washington found time between winning the Revolutionary War and founding the nation to own ten hounds: Taster, Cloe, Tipler, Forester, Captain, Lady Rover, Vulcan, Sweetlips, Madame Moose and Searcher.

Theodore Roosevelt, who worked hard on his macho image, kept a pit bull, Pete, that nearly provoked a diplomatic incident when it attacked the French Ambassador, tearing the seat out of his trousers. Roosevelt didn’t just stop at dogs though, he also had a bear, a badger, a macaw, a lizard, a hyena, snakes, guinea-pigs, a hen, a rooster with one leg, a rabbit, three ponies and a barn owl.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Scottie, called Fala, became so much part of his avuncular image that it received sacks of fanmail and was buried alongside his master in the memorial to FDR on the National Mall.

His successor, Gerald Ford, had a more practical use for Liberty, his golden retriever, whistling for her to come and break up boring meetings.