Hi! Cody da Pom here! Welcome to our Independence Day celebration! Mom has prepared a smart looking picnic, and soon we will be heading for the lake to spend the day in celebration with family and friends!

We would like to take a little time today to honor history, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence by paying tribute to the pets of our Presidents past and present! Just a second...

Missy! Knock it off! It will NOT hurt you to honor cats just a little bit, just for the day. I am ashamed of you! I think Mom is rubbing off on you. Now behave.

Ok, I am sorry, you'll have to excuse the Ninja Pom, Missy. She listens to Mom yelling about the cat next door making tracks all over her car, and pooping in her flower and vegetable gardens. (Most of you know Mom doesn't do cats)

Now, where were we.... Oh yes! Presidential pets! Here we go!


Did you know that the first pet to live in the White House was a bird? Yes sir! Now, it is common knowledge that President Washington told no lies about not liking Martha's parrot! In fact, it is said that he hated it! Hmmmm....always thought there was something wrong with a kid that would chop down good cherry trees....

Thomas Jefferson had mockingbirds during his his presidency, and President Madison and his wife Dolly owned a parrot. During the War of 1812, when the burning of the White House was taking place, they made sure that her parrot was rescued.

Andrew Jackson bought his wife a parrot just before he was inaugurated, but when his wife died, he left the parrot in good hands in Tennessee. As a matter of fact the parrot out lived Jackson, and the story goes that the bird was taken to Jackson's funeral, where it interrupted the ceremony with a string of profanity. (hmmmmm.....)

Teddy Roosevelt's son had a Hyacinth Macaw but I'm not certain it ever lived in the White House.

The first cat that lived in the White House belonged to Abraham Lincoln. Rutherford B. Hayes had a Siamese cat and President McKinley had an Angora. Woodrow Wilson had a cat and so did John Kennedy.

Many dogs have taken up residence in the White House. Some were well behaved some not! Teddy Roosevelt's bull terrier, chewed a hole in the French ambassador's pants at a White House reception. President Buchanan's dog Lara was famous for lying around the White House motionless for hours with one eye open and one eye closed!

Lyndon Johnson's dog Yuki would join him in howling duets for Oval Office visits. President Coolidge's dogs were dressed up in bonnets and ribbons for the White House Easter Egg Roll... cute! President Carter's dog spoiled a photo opp for Heartworm Awareness Week by ripping off her muzzle and growlingly resisting a blood test.

When FDR's dog, Fala (who stood on its hind legs whenever the national anthem was played ) was left behind in the the Aleutian Islands, he ordered the Navy to retrieve Fala at a a cost of over $15,000. Wow! I think I like FDR! But I DON'T like Thomas Jefferson any more. He HANGED his poor dog when he caught him eating a sheep.

James Garfield named his dog Veto to warn Congress not to pass legislation he did not like. Dwight Eisenhower banished his pooch Heidi to his farm when he could not break her from "piddling" on the carpet of the White House Diplomatic Room.

The memoirs of President and Mrs. George Bush's Spaniel (Millie) outsold those of the President! William Henry Harrison was the first presidential candidate to take his dog with him on the campaign trail. President Harding's dog Laddie Boy fetched the newspaper and sat in on Cabinet meetings--in his own chair!

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theater. His beloved dog Fido was also assasinated, by a knife-wielding drunk in the street.

If President Ford's visitors stayed too long, he whistled for his Golden Retriever Liberty to pounce on them! And Ronald Reagan's dog Lucky stopped in to the Chief of Staff's office every morning for a dougnut!

There have been some very unusual pets in the White House too! John Q. Adams kept an ALLIGATOR! Abe Lincoln had a turkey named Jack. Benjamin Harrison had a goat he called "His Whiskers"....(Mom would NOT like President Harrison!) Teddy Roosevelt had a garter snake named "Emily Spinach"!

And last but not least, Calvin Coolidge had a bobcat he called Smokey, a donkey he named Ebenezer, and two raccoons he called Horace and Rebbeca!

And now we have that weirdo in the White House with Socks the cat and Buddy the chocolate Lab.

We know that we didn't cover all of the Presidential pets, but we hope we kept you entertained, with our salute to the First Pets of America! Have a safe and Happy Fourth of July, and remember...FIRE WORKS ARE LOUD, SCAREY, AND DANGEROUS! Protect your pets!