Over the years , the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have n’t been that much different from you or me . They corrode dinner at home . They laugh and debate . They talk about redecorate — and whether that ’s really whitened ( or one of the 15 variations of " eggshell " ) , and they partake their animation with cats , wiener , greaseball pigs and all sorts of home favorite .
Just like you and me .
Except for thealligators .
Of all the presidential pets throughout all the presidential administrations — ever since John Adams , the second U.S. president , first pull his horse - trace U - Haul up to the newly built castle in 1800 — alligators might be the unusual . And that ’s articulate something .
It ’s true , though . Or rightful - ish .
According to the Presidential Pet Museum , the news report go thatJohn Quincy Adams(John Adams ' boy and the 6th U.S. president , from 1825 - 1829 ) housed an gator in the bare East Room of the President ’s House . ( President Theodore Roosevelt formally gave the White Houseits current namein 1901 . ) The alligator — whose name seems to be have been lost to time — was a talent from the Gallic military officer Marquis de Lafayette , who fought with the U.S. against the British in the American Revolution and was an former Adams ' fellowship friend .
Old JQA observe his alligator in a bathtub — so the tale goes — and enjoyed scaring guests by springing the big fella on them .
" If he had a very large alligator in a bathing tub in today ’s world , " says Frank Mazzotti , an ecologist and biologist at the University of Florida , " they ’d be after his nates for cruel treatment . "
Whatever the eccentric , the alligator allegedly know for some time in the presidential dig , where he ostensibly grew both in height and as a bit of Washington lore . The whole estimate of a reptilian in the people ’s theater would have been unique , too . But then , a one C subsequently , Allan Henry Hoover , son of Herbert Hoover ( No . 31 , from 1929 - 1933 ) and his two gators show up . Allegedly , that is .
Those gators supposedly were allowed to roam the White House evidence which , as the kinfolk at the Presidential Pet Museumalso point out , probably maintain King Tut on his toes . King Tut was President Hoover ’s German shepherd .
Those two gators — names also unsung — were the last known caimans to shack ( allegedly ) in the White House . And that ’s a good thing , probably , considering the work that goes into go along one as a pet .
" The big question I have for the great unwashed is , ' Are you sure you be intimate what you ’re getting into ? ' " says Mazzotti who , considering he ’s from the University of Florida , we must note is a Gator himself . " Do you want to have something as a pet that might set about out little and manageable but can acquire to be 10 - feet foresightful , weigh over 200 pounds and s * * * * and stinks like a buck ? Most people are really not train for that . "
Well , Adams and the Hoover boy did n’t take care , evidently . If those account are to be believed .
And some people still are not buying it .
" The thing with that whole account , peculiarly with Lafayette , is it ’s often repeated , but we really have n’t found the origin of the story , or any form of elemental corroboration that really has a base in reality , " says Evan Phifer , a historian with The White House Historical Association .
" There ’s no confirmable documentary grounds of that floor , " articulate Joel Treese , another WHHA historiographer . " I think it ’s plausibly a fable . "
Even if the alligators in the White House story are to be discounted , the presidential digs still have house more than a few nontraditional PET through the years .
A couple of bear cub : Thomas Jefferson ( No . 3 , 1801 - 1809 ) received a pair of grizzly bear rookie as a gift from an IE of the American West , according to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation . They were an instant hit . " This was really interesting for mass who would come to visit , because they could see these animals that , really , Americans had n’t seen before . " Phifer says . The bear lived in an natural enclosure on the lawn of the " President ’s House " before being moved to Philadelphia .
A racoon : Grace Coolidge , married woman of Calvin ( No . 30 , 1923 - 1929 ) , keep a racoon key Rebecca at the White House . " [ Rebecca]originally , in reality , was die to terminate up on the White House table for Thanksgiving , but they precipitate in making love with the raccoon , and she was a feature at the White House for quite a act . They even had a little cage for her outside , and a amber - plated inscribed arrest as well , " Phifer says .
" Rebecca the raccoon became very much a Coolidge family pet , " Treese adds .
A badger : Theodore Roosevelt ( No . 26 , 1901 - 1909 ) had a zoological garden ’s Charles Frederick Worth of beast . The most illustrious , perhaps , was Josiah , a Wisconsinite , who often was carried around the White House grounds by immature Archie Roosevelt .
A mass of sheep : Woodrow Wilson ( No . 28 , 1913 - 1921 ) have as many as 48 of them graze on the South Lawn as a show of backup for the troops during World War I. The sheep were shorn , and their wool sold for wartime causes .
Horses of all sort : The White House at one time had a static big enough for 25 horse and a survive area for coachman and stable hands . The stables enamor fire in 1864 — President Abraham Lincoln attempt to help put out the fire — and ultimately were rase in the former 1900s . Zachary Taylor ( No . 12 , 1849 - 50 ) was among many presidents who take a warhorse — his was named " Old Whitey " — with him to the President ’s House .
Another famous equid to expend sentence at the White House was Macaroni . Caroline Kennedy , the daughter of John F. Kennedy ( No . 35 , 1961 - 1963 ) , was often photographed on the jigger , who was kept on a nearby farm , not at 1600 Penn .
Opossums : Thestory goesthat Benjamin Harrison ( No . 23 , 1889 - 1893 ) had two pet opossums at the White House . It ’s difficult to confirm , as is the result to why the two pouched mammal allegedly were named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection . However , President Hoover did preside over a ceremonial occasion on White House evidence call for an opossum and a local in high spirits school sports team , Phifer read .
snake in the grass , hen , a one - legged rooster , a hyaena , a small bear named Jonathan Edwards … All from Roosevelt ’s menagerie , according to the National Park Service .
Despite the bizarreness of some of these alternative , the positron emission tomography most realise as a presidential chum — at least for forward-looking - day Chief Executive — is the loyal canine . The most famous , plausibly , was Fala , who was so close to Franklin Delano Roosevelt ( No . 32 , 1933 - 1945 ) that the little Scotch terrier attended his funeral and isforever memorialized at the FDR museumin Washington .
Many others dependent as a President of the United States ’s Best Friend : Warren G. Harding ( No . 29 , 1921 - 1923 ) give his dog , Laddie Boy , a script - carved chair to sit in during coming together . Lyndon Johnson ( No . 36 , 1963 - 1969)sung with Yuki in the Oval Office . Liberty hung out with Gerald Ford(No . 38 , 1974 - 1977 ) , favourable with Ronald Reagan ( No . 40 , 1981 - 1989 ) , andMilliewith George H.W. Bush ( No . 41 , 1989 - 1993 ) . Bo and gay , a pair of Lusitanian piddle dogs , keepBarack Obama ( No . 44 , 2009 - present ) and his family company .
" Pets humanise the White House and the presidential term . Just like so many Americans have favorite , so do the chair , " Phifer says . " It ’s a link between the life of a president and the lives of millions of Americans . "
