Animals in the White House

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It’s a tradition as old as the White House. Calvin Coolidge注2 and his wife, Grace, kept dogs but are most famous for saving a pair of raccoons they received as a gift back when raccoons were considered food not pets.

Nixon: It was a little Cocker Spaniel dog, black and white, spotted, and our little girl, Tricia, the six-year-old, named it “Checkers.”

Richard Nixon注3’s so called “Checkers Speech注4” may have saved his spot on the Republican ticket in 1952. But sometimes a pet can land the Commander-in-chief in the dog house. L.B.J. 注5 angered animal lovers in 1964 when he lifted his beloved Beagle named Him by the ears. Still, most Presidents find truth in the old saying, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog注6.”

G. W. Bush: Barney, I know you wanted to be in my cabinet.
Current First Canine[（正式）犬], Barney, loves the camera, and chocolate Lab, Buddie, stood by President Clinton through scandal. Clinton cat, Socks, inspired a fan club, and First Lady Barbara Bush’s dog, Millie, wrote a book.

But seeing the Obama girls with their puppy is most likely to bring back memories of another pet-friendly presidential family, the Kennedys, who had a virtual[实质的] menagerie[动物园]: birds, dogs, cats, hamsters[仓鼠], a rabbit named Zha Zha, and several horses, most famously, Caroline’s pony Macaroni. Images of childhood joy we may soon see from a new First Family and their new First Pet.