I have come to the conclusion that presidents are very strange humans. They have had a variety of unusual pets: Thomas Jefferson had a pair of bear cubs and a mockingbird named Dick; Andrew Jackson had a parrot that he taught swear words; Benjamin Harrison had two opossums that he named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection; Herbert Hoover had two crocodiles(!). Teddy Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge practically had zoos. Between them they kept several dozen animals, including a badger, a snake, a Pygmy hippo, a raccoon, a wallaby and a one-legged rooster! Lots of them have had dogs, including the current occupant of the White House, Barack Obama.
Susan Ford and Shan the Siamese cat
Although there have not been enough presidential cats, those who shared the oval office with their human made their mark. Look at Socks above — he was even giving press conferences for his human, Bill Clinton!
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to bring cats into the White House. The first one was named Tabby. In fact, he loved cats so much that when someone asked his wife Mary if he had a hobby, she nodded and said, “Cats.” He would play with them for hours.
Misty Malarky Ying Yang with Amy Carter
Siamese cats have been popular with U.S. presidents. The first First Meezer was Siam, who was a gift to Lucy Hayes, wife of Rutherford B. Hayes, sent by a diplomat at the U.S. consulate in Bangkok. Sadly, Siam was with the family less than a year and died of an unknown illness at the Hayes’ own estate, Spiegel Grove. More recently, the daughters of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter have enjoyed having Meezers as their companions.
India, who belonged to the Bushes
Isn’t it great that a day has been set aside to honor all these cats? Wait — you mean it’s not honoring them, but the actual presidents? Once again, we cats have been gypped!
These photos were taken by employees of the Executive Office of the President of the United States during the course of their official duties. As works of the U.S. federal government, these images are in the public domain.
Loading ...
Oh, what a wonderful post for President’s Day. Thanks for such interesting information about the presidential cats! I was surprised to learn it too 12 presidents before they got a cat in the white house! Lincoln was the 12th president, wasn’t he?
How wonderful to show all those kitties in the White House !!
We bet they had lots of influence there too,even if the day is not about them!
We did not know President Bush had a cat, but we love that he had a House Panther!!
Purrs Tillie and Georgia,
Tiger,Treasure and JJ
We didn’t know The Bushes had a cat either. We agree that a multicat household should be a part of political training!
The White House definitely needs more cats, Sparkle! Thanks for this presidential post!!
Our Prime Minister has a cat living with them at Downing Street but the Queen badly lets us down by keeping (whispers) dogs!
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
We also thank you for this great presidents Day post. I also did not know that the Bushes had a cat. I went horse back riding with Susan Ford a very long time ago. It was when her Father was President. She was a very nice gal but a little girl at that time.
That really was interesting about all the different animals in and around the White House.
Have a great week.
We enjoyed seeing those Presidential Cats!!
The Florida Furkids
This was a great post for Presidents Day – very interesting too, I think we’d have better Presidents if they were cat people!!
xxxxxxxxxx
Sparkle,
Thank you so much for such an interesting post!
I think you are completely right: presidents should be trained to serve cats. Living in a multi-cat household would remind them who is the boss
[...] Sparkle has a very interesting post about presidential kitties. [...]
What a great way to look at President’s Day!
We LOVED this.
: ) Katie & Glogirly
Very nice to see President Kittycats!
~ The Bunch and Bob and Patrick
Very interesting info about the variety of animals in the White House. Who ever runs for President here-on should be required to have an adopted cat from a shelter. The more cats, the better. (It’s a huge house!!!)
And I had such aspirations of being president myself. I should just have found a human that was the sort that would be president, instead of my useless person…
Happy President’s Cats Day! I totally agree with you that learning how to make cat happy should be part of the training to be politician. It’s the best way to learn to be public servant!
I did not know a lot about past presidents and First Cats. It is a very interesting, fun post. Thank you for sharing
What a great and informative post, Sparkle! We agree … we’d be a lot better off if there were more presidential cats!
I’m LOVING this theory of yours. Yes, Presidents (and Prime Ministers like we have here in Canada) would be well served to learn how to love and respect a cat… or two… or three. It only makes sense. Once you know how to please a cat, pleasing the peeps will just come naturally.
Wonderful info Sparkle, I had no idea about lots of them…and yes, there haven’t been enough!!!
TW had a Socks t-shirt! We didn’t know about a few of these cats. They should’ve gotten more press.
We think the lack of Cats in government explains a lot; both the calamity AND how smart Cats are.
Most informative, Sparkle!
Purrs,
The Chans
We kittehs definitely belong in the White House! What a great post, Miss Sparkle.
That was fun information and there were several I had no idea of..including India.
That was a great post about the Presidential cats.
Great post Sparkle! Us felines have great importance in society . Hoomans need our wisdom
You always have the bestest information Sparkle! We hadn’t heard of some of those Presidential cats but we think there should be a whole lot more! Can you imagine the hiding places in the White House?
I think India was the best-looking of them all.
You know, it really ticked the Human off that when the Clintons left the White House they did *not* take Socks with them. A White House staffer adopted Socks and I am sure gave him a wonderful post-administration life. Still, I’ve always held a grudge against the Human Clintons for that.
The mom works for a printing company and they printed a photo of Socks with a paw print for the White House that he could send to fans. We see Spitty’s comment and have to say we’re not surprised. The Clintons seem like that type.
fabulous post! Sad that cats are conspicuously missing from the White House…Clinton was always one of my faves (blue dress or not lol), he is a CAT MAN!
Dear Sparkle,
Me thinks us cats is just too smart to be presidents!
Really, would yous want to be one?
Kisses
Nellie
we say honor the cats anyways!
Pip, Smidgen, Minnie, Hollie
Our Prime Minister has a dog. That she was given as a birthday present. That came from a notorious puppy farm. Sigh.