By Kaleena Fraga
Over the course of White House history, the American public has grown used to seeing an animal in the White House. No, we’re not referring to any occupants of the Oval Office–rather the plethora of beasts that U.S. presidents have brought with them, everything from Jefferson’s mockingbird “Dick” to Lyndon Johnson’s beagles “Him” and “Her”.
President Trump is something of an outlier in that he came to the White House pet-less, despite some rumors that he’d been given a dog named Patton. Harry Truman also had no desire to add a First Dog to the White House, and this got him in trouble.
The story goes (and we’d encourage everyone to check out the fantastic site http://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/ for more) that a woman from Truman’s home state of Missouri sent the first family a dog named Feller. The gift made sense. After all,
Truman’s predecessor Franklin Roosevelt had famously kept his dog Fala at his side during his presidency. But Truman did not want the dog. After much fanfare surrounding the dog’s arrival, Truman re-gifted Feller to his doctor.
An uproar ensued among the American public, who deemed Truman “anti-canine.”
A reporter later asked Truman what had ever happened to Feller. Confused, Truman responded, “To what?”
The reporter reminded Truman of the dog’s existence, and Truman replied, “Oh…he’s around.”
Fortunately for Feller, after changing hands a few more times, he spent the rest of his days on a farm in Ohio (yes, really!). All in all, it was probably preferable to the cramped quarters of the White House, especially with a master who didn’t especially care for dogs.
History First 