Presidential Canines
It's no coincidence that many Presidents of the United States have as their best friend their loyal dog. Given the cutthroat nature of American politics, dogs in the White House may be a necessity, as where else can most Presidents get unconditional love? Jimmy Carter once said, "if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog," and he surely knew about this first hand, given the nature of his plummeting approval ratings while in office.
Canine residents of the White House have been from every AKC group except the toy group. According to www.dog-names.org.uk, twenty-four out of our forty-two Commanders in Chief have owned dogs, making dogs the most popular White House pet. In fact, ninety-six dogs have lived in the White House with their Presidents. The varieties of dogs giving Presidents moral support have included 30 Sporting Dogs, 16 Terriers, 14 Hounds, 13 Herding Dogs, seven Non-Sporting Dogs, four Working Dogs, and 11 dogs of unknown backgrounds, representing a canine melting pot that resembles the human melting pot which the United States is famous for being.
Some of the Presidents' dogs became famous and successful in their own rights. President George H.W. Bush owned a Springer Spaniel named Millie who, with the help of the First Lady, wrote a book about the White House that sold more copies than the President's own autobiography.
Other White House dog anecdotes include:
During the Cold War, Russian Premiere Khrushchev gave Caroline Kennedy a dog called Pushinka. Pushinka was the daughter of Strelka, the first dog in space. Of course, before the dog was accepted into the First Family, it was properly x-rayed and searched by intelligence organizations to rule out any particularly sneaky Russian attempts at spying on the First Family. Later Pushinka gave birth to a litter, and President Kennedy was fond of calling the littermates "pupniks." President Kennedy also requested that his dogs meet his helicopter when he arrived at the White House, making him one of the great dog lovers in the White House, or at very least one of the Presidents most aware of a great photo opp.
President Ronald Reagan owned a Bouvier des Flandres he called Lucky. Reagan was once caught on photograph being dragged across the White house lawn by Lucky, in the presence of Margaret Thatcher. Later Lucky was sent to live in California, perhaps exiled because of this embarrassing misbehavior.
Fala, a Scottish Terrier owned by Franklin Roosevelt, starred in a Hollywood movie. He also contributed to the war effort by donating a dollar which earned him the honorary title of army private. It remains unclear how Fala earned this donated dollar; today, a Senate Subcommittee would surely have investigated the matter and perhaps censured Fala.
Presidents are not so different from the rest of us--they need companionship and unconditional love, big brown eyes staring up at them, a friend who always thinks they're the greatest, even if the rest of the country or even the world may not agree. A dog in the White House fills this need for the President, just as a dog in any house fills this need for you and for me. Clearly, this humanizes the President--though he or she may be the most powerful person in the world, all the President's dog knows, much as our dogs know, is that his or her human is the best person in the world, and his or her very best friend.