Some notable pets of our leaders

“. . . These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family don’t resent attacks, but Fala does resent them. . .”    

­— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

 

Those who have felt that there has been something amiss at the White House these past four pet-free years may be relieved to know that the Bidens have adhered to tradition and brought animals to reside with them: their two German shepherds, Champ and Major, and possibly a cat in the near future. President Biden has always had big dogs ever since he was a boy. The younger shepherd, Major, two, is the first “shelter dog” ever to live at the White House and the first couple has received much favorable publicity for acquiring an orphan dog

Although Americans have more pet cats than dogs, dogs have always been more popular with our leaders. Dogs, especially, seem to make our leaders and their families easier for people to relate to. But some of our presidents have had other less common pets. Grace and Calvin Coolidge had a pet raccoon named Rebecca, which they liked to walk on a leash down the streets of Washington. Theodore Roosevelt had  a veritable menagerie at the White House that included horses, a parrot, a guinea pig, a badger, a rooster and a snake, not to mention a dog. 

Some pets  have even earned a small place in history. One of the best-known presidential pets was Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “little dog Fala”, a feisty Scottish terrier immortalized in one of FDR’s best known speeches, who became so well known that a statue of Fala beside Roosevelt is featured in Washington, D.C.’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the only presidential pet so honored. 

The Trumans gave away a dog they had owned to a friend when they moved into the White House. But a remark that the president is said to have made has become famous: “If you need a friend in Washington, get a dog!”

One of President Nixon’s most memorable addresses, the “Checkers speech,” was actually delivered while he was running for vice-president, defending a backer’s gift of a cocker spaniel that his daughters named Checkers and that he defiantly refused to give back. His speech appealed to the nationwide audience and to President Eisenhower as well who had been considering dropping Nixon from the ticket; the speech actually saved Nixon’s career. Checkers died before Nixon became president but the speech lives on.

New York Times columnist Gail Collins has reminded us several times a year since 2011 about former presidential aspirant Mitt Romney’s 1983 family vacation trip with their dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, who he strapped to the roof of their station wagon. While the story probably did not cost him the election, were Romney to run once more for the presidency the story would surely be remembered again and again.

Other world leaders have also had notable pets. Over her reign, Queen Elizabeth II has had more than 30 Welsh corgis, each of which she is said to have personally house-trained.  Benito Mussolini didn’t have a dog, but had a pet lion, Ras, who rode with him in the front seat of his convertible as he drove around Rome, thereby engendering extra respect for Il Duce from onlooking pedestrians. Adolph Hitler had a pet German Shepherd named Blondie that often slept in his bed with him and that some considered his fondest love (other than his mother). While Hitler did poison Blondie at the end, forcing her to take cyanide, he thought that killing her was preferable to letting her be captured by the Russians.

 While growing up, President Trump never had any pets —no dogs, no cats, not even a fish or hamster. Trump was the first president since William McKinley 120 years ago not to have a dog. He said it was because he “didn’t have time.” But a generation ago, his first wife Ivana, reportedly feeling lonely, got herself a dog and soon after Trump divorced her. Not long ago his current wife, Melania, got a dog (a goldendoodle) for the Trump’s youngest son, Barron, that the president named Patton after the saucy World War II general; however, the dog never resided at the White House.

Judging by his friendly rapport with the Belgian Malinois Shepherd who helped the U.S. capture the Isis leader in 2019, some have suggested that Trump has recently mellowed in his feelings toward animals. But we should remember: it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

                                                                                                  

Architect Mac Gordon lives in Lakeville.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Father Joseph Kurnath

LAKEVILLE — Father Joseph G. M. Kurnath, retired priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, passed away peacefully, at the age of 71, on Sunday, June 29, 2025.

Father Joe was born on May 21, 1954, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He attended kindergarten through high school in Bristol.

Keep ReadingShow less
Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

Keep ReadingShow less
Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

Keep ReadingShow less