The two top Presidential candidates seem to be failing Americans in all sorts of ways.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have two of the lowest likability ratings of any Presidential contenders in history. Most Americans don’t find either of their policy platforms appealing. After months of a grueling primary campaign, a number of voters are confused as to why a reality television real estate tycoon and the notoriously dishonest wife of a former President are the best candidates we can field for the most powerful office in the world.
Worse still, on today, National Dog Day, neither candidate is able to showcase a beloved canine pet. Hillary Clinton’s family had a cat named Socks and a dog named Buddy during the Clinton family’s first term in office, but both pets have long since been replaced by bathroom email servers and Huma Abedin. The closest Donald Trump has ever come to having a pet, it seems, is this giant stuffed lion his son Barron is riding on in a family photo.
That’s bad news for Clinton and Trump – and for America – because some of the nation’s best leaders had trusty four-legged friends.
1. George Washington: Washington was a well-reputed dog lover who, in his lifetime, “kept almost every group of dog recognized today by the American Kennel Club,” according to the Mount Vernon museum (he’s even credited with creating his very own breed, the American Foxhound). The founding father loved dogs so much he allegedly ordered a cease-fire during a battle with the British so that he could return a British General’s dog, which had gotten loose and was running around the battlefield.
2. Abraham Lincoln: The 16th President had a special place in his heart for his family dog, Fido. The dog reportedly followed Lincoln everywhere and even waited outside the town barbershop while Lincoln got haircuts. Fido didn’t follow the Lincoln family to the White House – Lincoln thought it might be too much for the pup – but he was treated warmly by his foster family, the Rolls, and after Lincoln was assassinated, stood watch over his casket as it lay in state.
3. Teddy Roosevelt: Roosevelt didn’t just have a dog at the White House; he had a veritable menagerie. Teddy loved his dogs, and kept plenty at the President’s residence and at his home in New England. They had a Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Sailor, a Saint Bernard named Rollo, a Manchester Terrier named Jack (the family’s favorite), and a Rat Terrier named Skip (just to name the most important ones).
4. Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Among Presidential dogs, FDR’s Scottish Terrier Fala is perhaps the most famous. Fala, a Christmas gift to the Roosevelt family from his sister, was an honorary Private in the U.S. Military during World War II, traveled with the President on important trips, played a prominent role in some of the President’s most important speeches, and even starred in his own film (produced by MGM) to promote the wartime effort on the home front. He’s immortalized alongside FDR in FDR’s Washington DC memorial.
5. Ronald Reagan: Ronald Reagan had a series of Bouvier des Flandres dogs in his life, but his most famous companion was a Bovier named Lucky, who lived with the President and his wife, Nancy, at the White House. Lucky was a gift to the Reagans from March of Dimes poster child Kristen Ellis. While Lucky was a “ball of fluff” to begin with, she grew to the “size of a horse,” according to Nancy Reagan, in her time at the White House.
There are, of course, plenty of famous Presidential dogs besides these. The Nixon family had a Cocker Spaniel named Checkers that played a starring role in a famous speech President Nixon gave in the 1950s. The Bush family had Scottish Terriers Barney and Miss Beazley. The Obamas have Bo and Sunny, two Portuguese Water Dogs. Lyndon Johnson had several Beagles, and the Founding Father Presidents were loaded up with faithful companions.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton better get started.
