7:10pm Thursday 13th November 2008
By Patrick Gough
Last week, the new American President Barack Obama promised his daughters a puppy when they moved into the White House. Ahhhh, isn’t that nice.
But did you know that over the years an impressive total of 113 dogs have slobbered through the halls of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
This rich pedigree of canine residents first began with George Washington’s mutt in the 1700s, followed by a waggy tailed succession of Labradors, spaniels and terriers.
When Abraham Lincoln won the American Civil War and ended slavery in 1865, his faithful dog Fido was at his side.
Perhaps the best-known dog-lover is twenty-sixth President Theodore Roosevelt, who owned a retriever called Sailor Boy and a mongrel called Skip. Not to mention an over-friendly bull terrier that bit so many people that he was exiled from the White House.
The First Lady Alice Roosevelt also had a soft spot for her pooch with a Pekinese called Manchu, which was a gift from the empress of China.
By the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson had become as notorious for lifting his pet Beagles up by their ears as for his involvement in the Vietnam War.
The 1990s and President Bill Clinton was enjoying special moments with his chocolate Labrador Retriever, Buddy.
And more recently, Barney the Scottish terrier could be seen exercising and entertaining George W Bush on the White House lawn.
Other world leaders with a fondness for man’s best friend include former French president Francois Mitterand and former Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, who owned several Irish terriers all named Pat. Proving he was barking about dogs, the Canadian PM was also believed to have seances to communicate with the first dog Pat after his death.
Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler had a German shepherd called Blondi – and used the animal to make sure his cyanide capsules were lethal enough.
Apparently, North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Il keeps better care of his dogs and feeds his small shih tzu with only the finest foods.
Even the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein liked pets and had a menagerie of exotic animals such as tigers. Though technically tigers are cats.
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