6 Adorable Presidential Pups

Here are our favorite pups who happened to have lived in the White House. Without further ado, here are some very good presidential pooches. 

Sunny & Bo

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

Following the 2008 election, President Barack Obama got his daughters a Portuguese Water dog named Bo. Five years after his adoption, Bo was gifted with an equally adorable little sister named Sunny. In an interview with PBS, Michelle Obama commented upon the dogs’ popularity. 

 "Everybody wants to see them and take pictures. I get a memo at the beginning of the month with a request for their schedules, and I have to approve their appearances, "explained the former first lady. 

Fala

Photo by Zoe Ra on Unsplash

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s beloved Scottish Terrier, Fala, was his constant companion until his death in 1945. FDR absolutely adored the dog -- and who can blame him -- and basically took him everywhere he went. 

This eventually led to accusations that the president’s pup had been stranded on the Aleutian Islands following a visit in 1944. FDR refuted the claim in his “Fala Speech,” which goes as follows: 

“These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks, but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I had left him behind on the Aleutian Islands and had sent a destroyer back to find him - at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or twenty million dollars- his Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself - such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog.” 

Millie

Photo by Rafaëlla Waasdorp on Unsplash

President George H.W. Bush’s beautiful English springer spaniel, Millie, is probably more accomplished than I’ll ever be. The pup released the New York Times best seller, Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush, 1992, all about her time in the White House. 

Fido

Photo by ARTISTIC FRAMES on Unsplash

You can thank President Abraham Lincoln as to why dogs are often called “Fido.” That’s right, the 16th president of the United States had a very famous pooch with that very name. Unfortunately, life at the White House was a little rough for the pup and Lincoln believed it was in his best interest to rehome him. Fido spent the rest of his days with one of Lincoln’s close friends. 

King Tut

Photo by Quinton Coetzee on Unsplash

King Tut, an adorable Belgian Malinois police dog, is often credited with helping President Herbert Hoover secure his place in the White House. When he was campaigning in 1928, autographed pictures that showed him and his pooch posing together were mailed out to potential voters and the press. According to White House History, journalists often wrote about “Hoover's lack of charisma and personal warmth” but King Tut helped remedy the issue.