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Our 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, and his wife, Grace, were so well known for
their devotion to animals that people all over the world shipped animals to
them. Among the many animals given to them by friends, foreign leaders,
and the general public were cats, dogs, birds, a raccoon, a baby bear, a wallaby,
a pair of lion cubs, an antelope, a large white goose, a donkey, a pigmy hippo,
and a bobcat. President Coolidge's favorite pet was a raccoon named
Rebecca; he built a special house for her, visited her every day, and
walked her around the White House on a leash. When the White House was
being repaired and President Coolidge and his family moved temporarily, the
President worried that Rebecca might get lonely, so he sent a limousine to bring
her from the White House to stay with them.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt takes time during his busy day to visit with a young friend and Fala.One of the most famous Presidential pets was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's constant
companion, Fala. Fala, a Scottish terrier, was given to President
Roosevelt by his cousin, Margaret Suckley, who thought that the pup would ease
some of the President's stress during the difficult days of World War
II. Fala's full name was Murray of Fala Hill after a famous Roosevelt
ancestor. Fala almost never left the President's side. In
fact, when Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter
in 1941 on the U.S.S. Augusta in the mid-Atlantic, Fala was right there with
the two world leaders. And at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in
Washington, D.C., a statue of Fala sits next to that of his favorite companion,
the President.
Margaret Suckley helped to write a biography of Fala entitled The True Story of
Fala. Two First Ladies have also written books related to White
House pets. First Lady Barbara Bush helped her springer spaniel,
Millie, to write Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush, which is a
dog's-eye view of the White House during the Bush Administration. And
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton compiled a book entitled Dear Socks, Dear
Buddy that includes letters from young people from all over the world who have
written to the Clinton family pets.
No discussion of America's First Pets would be complete without mentioning those
of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his family. President Kennedy brought
to the White House a collection of animals that continued to expand while he was
in office. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy designed a special play area
for the children by the West Wing, complete with living quarters for their dogs,
rabbits, guinea pigs, and ponies. The most famous of these was Caroline
Kennedy's pony, Macaroni, given to her by then-Vice President Lyndon
Johnson. Macaroni received many letters from children all over the
world and proudly pulled the two Kennedy children in a sleigh around the South Lawn
when the ground was covered with snow.
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