JFK Exhibit: Presidential Pets – From the White House to the Dog House

Do you have a pet? Chances are the answer is yes. Around 66% of U.S. homes include at least one companion animal—that’s 86.9 million households. These homes have included the White House, which dogs, cats, horses, goats, birds, rodents and reptiles have called home. Through objects, photos, letters, recordings, film and interactive display, this exhibit looks at some of these animals and their presidential owners over the course of two and a half centuries, when pets took on roles as workers, companions, trend setters and political tools.

Some of the non-human occupants of the White House featured are:

• Rebecca, a raccoon sent by a supporter to the Coolidge White House for the president’s Thanksgiving dinner who became a pet instead
• Laddie Boy, an airedale belonging to Warren G. Harding whose birthday parties were Washington social events
• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fala, a witness to history who attended the Atlantic Charter conference, and later helped his owner to an unprecedented fourth term as president
• JFK’s Pushinka, the dog who was a gift from Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev
• Bill Clinton’s Socks, the first First Cat to be celebrated by the media
• Barney, the White House’s first canine video star
• Algonquin, the pony who rode the elevator in Theodore Roosevelt’s White House