Cleopatra and Caesar
John Adams, the first president to take up residence in the White House, wasn’t about to leave his pets behind when he moved in. Instead, he brought his two horses, Cleopatra and Caesar, with him to Washington, and had stables constructed on the White House property to house them. In fact, it was reportedly none other than Cleopatra and Caesar who brought the second president to his inauguration ceremony.
Socks
Once a stray, Bill and Hillary Clinton initially adopted socks when they were living in Little Rock, Arkansas, later bringing him to the White House when Bill began his tenure as president in 1993.
The black-and-white tuxedo cat lived in the White House for both of Clinton’s presidential terms and was eventually joined by Buddy, a Labrador Retriever adopted by the Clintons in 1997. Socks lived for 19 years, eventually passing from cancer in 2009.
Him and Her
Lyndon B. Johnson wasn’t content to move into the White House with just his wife and children. His prized beagles, Him and Her, also came along for the ride. In fact, LBJ was such a dog lover that he had the White House doghouse redesigned to provide more space to his precious pooches.
Unfortunately, the pups didn’t last long in Washington; Her died just one year after LBJ entered the White House and Him followed suit two years later.
Miss Beazley
While many presidential pets moved into the White House with their owners, Miss Beazley—the Bush family’s Scottish Terrier—was adopted during George W. Bush’s time in office. The pup was a gift from the then-president to his wife, Laura Bush, in 2004, and moved back to Texas with the family before passing following a battle with lymphoma in 2014.
Murray the Outlaw of Falahill
Miss Beazley wasn’t the only Scottish Terrier to take up residence in the White House. Fala (full name Murry the Outlaw of Falahill) was given to Franklin Delano Roosevelt by a cousin in 1940 and moved into the White House that same year.
One of the White House’s more famous non-human inhabitants, Fala was known for his ability to do tricks, as well as the president’s staggering devotion to him.
In addition to insisting that only he feed the dog, Roosevelt even famously name-dropped the pooch during a 1944 speech to the Teamsters Union in which he refuted accusations that he’d accidentally left the dog behind after a trip to the Aleutian Islands.
Rebecca
Though the majority of White House pets have been those of the feline or canine variety, Calvin Coolidge decided that the mansion was also the ideal place to house a raccoon. After being sent the raccoon, later named Rebecca, to be cooked for Thanksgiving dinner in 1926, the Coolidges opted to spare her life instead and keep her as a pet.
In addition to building her a tree house and taking her on walks around the White House property, Rebecca was also reportedly allowed to roam off-leash throughout the White House during her time there.
Sunny and Bo
Two of the most well-known presidential pets, Sunny and Bo are a duo of Portuguese Water Dogs who lived with the Obama family during Barack Obama’s tenure as president. Bo was given to the family in 2009, his particular breed chosen because the family wanted a hypoallergenic dog to avoid triggering daughter Malia’s allergies.
And, in fact, Bo wasn’t the only member of his litter to earn a spot in a government official’s home: his littermate Cappy, was brought home by Senator Ted Kennedy’s family. In 2013, Bo was joined at the White House by another Portuguese Water Dog, Sunny.
King Tut
Herbert Hoover was one of the few presidents to actually use his pet to aid his campaign. In an attempt to make Hoover seem like a man of the people, photos of the then-presidential-candidate with his dog, a Belgian Shepherd named king Tut, were released to the media, garnering Hoover a wealth of attention and praise. Sadly, shortly after moving into the White House, the dog passed away at age eight.
Macaroni
John Adams wasn’t the only president to keep horses at the White House—in fact, JFK did the same. A gift from Lyndon B. Johnson to John F. Kennedy’s eldest child, Caroline, the First Daughter dubbed her pony Macaroni, and frequently rode the horse around the White House lawn.
Macaroni was far from the Kennedy family’s only White House pet, however; the family also kept multiple dogs, a cat, a rabbit, hamsters, parakeets, and other ponies during their time in the White House.
Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection
Rebecca the raccoon may not have been the strangest pet to take up residence in the White House. Benjamin Harrison, the country’s 23rd president, was famous for keeping two opossums, named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection, in the White House with him during his four years in office.
