6. Homework Help

6.3. Presidential Lists

1. He owned a black Scottish terrier named Fala. Franklin D. Roosevelt [AJC].

2. He owned a dog named Laddie Boy who had his own chair to sit on at cabinet meetings. Warren Harding [OY 104, DDWH 21]

3. He was the first president to request that his dogs meet the presidential helicopter when the president arrived at the White House.  John F. Kennedy.  Traphes Bryant, who cared for the dogs, had them line up to greet the president once or twice as a gag.  Then JFK insisted that they always be there when he got off the helicopter. [DDWH 4]

4. Soviet Premier Khrushchev gave him a dog named Pushinka, the offspring of the Russian space dog Strelka.  John F. Kennedy.  When Pushinka’s own puppies were born, JFK called them “pupniks”. [DDWH 22-23]

5. The Prime Minister of Ireland gave him an Irish cocker spaniel.  John F. Kennedy.  The dog’s name was Shannon. [DDWH 23]

6. He had a dog which could climb up the ladder to a tree house. John F. Kennedy laughed heartily when he saw the trick. The tree house was Caroline’s, the dog was Pushinka and the trick was taught by the dog caretaker Traphes Bryant. [DDWH 41]

7. As president he received as a gift a white collie. He always shook hands with the dog whenever he left or returned to the White House. Lyndon B. Johnson.  The dog’s name was Blanco. [DDWH 89, 105]

8. His pet was the star in a Hollywood movie. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dog Fala was the star of an MGM piece on the typical day of a dog in the White House. [FFF 449]

9. His dogs enjoyed air-conditioning in their White House dog house. Lyndon B. Johnson [DDWH 142]

10. Ronald Reagan had a dog house built for his dog Rex, the architect was a relative of what former president? Rutherford B. Hayes. The interior decorator was Theo Hayes, his great-great-grandson. Source: “First Dogs” by Roy Rowan and Brooke Janis. Answer provide by "Col. Jefferson".

11. His dog became an honorary army private. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dog Fala received this honor by contributing one dollar to the war effort.  After that hundreds of thousands of dogs across the country followed suit. [DDWH 151]

12. His favorite dog was run over and killed on the White House grounds. Lyndon B. Johnson [DDWH 163]  Him was the dog. Him's body was cremated. [DDWH 180]

13. J. Edgar Hoover gave him a dog which he named J. Edgar.  Lyndon B. Johnson, in 1966.  The dog, a beagle, was to replace Him who was run over and killed by a car on the White House grounds. [DDWH 184-185]

14. His dog took a leak in the oval office in front of the Shah of Iran. Lyndon B. Johnson.  The dog was Yuki, the date August 22, 1967. [DDWH 211]

15. His dog’s “singing” was recorded for Television. Lyndon B. Johnson. Yuki was the dog and a recording was made of an interview (including the dog singing) by Marty Duprey of Greenville, South Carolina.  LBJ was provided with a copy of the tape. [DDWH 212-213]

16. His dog’s picture appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Lyndon B. Johnson’s dog Yuki was so honored in February 1968. [DDWH 235]

17. His dog bit a White House police officer in the groin.  Lyndon B. Johnson’s dog Yuki committed  the crime in May, 1968. [DDWH 243]

18. When he entered the White House a member of his staff gave him an Irish setter, which he named for the little village in Ireland where his mother’s ancestors came from.  Richard Nixon.  The dog was “King Timahoe.” [DDWH 268]

19. He requested that his dog be given helicopter riding lessons.  Richard Nixon [DDWH 297]

20. The three White House dogs were on television's Today Show.  Richard Nixon, Nov. 1969 [DDWH 318]

21. He was the first to shake hands with a dog which was a war hero.  Woodrow Wilson.  The dog was Stubby, a bullterrier, who captured a German spy in World War I. [SSM.3 104]

22. Two of his dogs ceremoniously put their paw prints in new concrete outside the West Executive Entrance of the White House. Lyndon B. Johnson [DDWH 148] Blanco and Him were the dogs.

The story of Checkers:  "While running for vice-president with Eisenhower in 1952, Richard M. Nixon's career was almost shattered by an expose revealing that he had a secret $18,000 personal fund (mostly contributions from oilmen) stashed away under another name. Asked to resign, Nixon decided to defend himself on television. Told to make disclosures of any gifts he had received, Nixon remembered how FDR had defended his dog Fala, in 1944, and he decided to do likewise. In his speech, Nixon said that he had received a gift from a Republican in Texas.  'It was a little cocker spaniel dog ... Black and white spotted. And our little girl--Tricia, the 6-year-old--named it Checkers. And you know, the kids (like all kids) love the dog, and I just want to say right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it.'  After the speech Nixon wept, saying,  'I was an utter flop ... Well, at least I won the dog vote tonight.'  The speech was a success. Nixon stayed on the ticket, writing later, 'Checkers emerged from the campaign the best-known dog in the nation since Fala.'" [BOL 126]