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Wild pets and animals to call the White House home including tigers, bears, and flock of sheep

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are currently battling it out over the Presidential chair, and while both have been criticized for political talking points, at least they didn’t bring wild animals like tigers and bears into the White House like some former commanders in chief.

The election is still a few months away, but both the Republican and Democratic parties are ramping up their advertising of candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Sadly, neither of the hopefuls has pets to join the long line of White House animals, which might be a blessing as no creature could top the crazy animals of years gone by.

White House at midday
The South Portico of the White House at Christmas. This Neoclassical, Palladian house is the principle residence of the President of the US

George Washington was a fan of American foxhounds

It makes sense that the United States’ first President had very American dogs, after all, can you imagine him owning an English cocker spaniel or a bulldog?

George had three American foxhounds, Sweetlips, Scentwell, and Vulcan, alongside Drunkard, Taster, Tipler, and Tipsy, black and tan coonhounds, and a greyhound.

The American hero was also gifted an Andalusian donkey from the King of Spain, joining other barn animals like George’s wartime horses, Blueskin and Nelson. He also owned three stallions, and his wife, First Lady Martha Washington, was said to have a parrot called Snipe.

Admittedly, the next President, John Adams, cooled it on the pet front as he had just three dogs, Juno, Mark, and Satan, and horses Cleopatra and Caesar.

Thomas Jefferson was the first to have a wild animal

Throughout his presidency, Thomas Jefferson owned four mockingbirds, his favorite was named Dick, dogs called Berg�re and Grizzle, a range of horses, and even a flock of sheep on the White House’s lawn. Shockingly, one ram was said to have killed a young boy.

Perhaps Jefferson’s most famous pets were two grizzly bear cubs given to him by Captain Zebulon Pike. Unfortunately, he deemed them too dangerous and gifted them to a museum in Philadelphia.

Both James Madison and James Monroe returned the White House to somewhat normality with very standard pet choices, though John Quincy Adams did away with that trend with his collection of silkworms a few years later.

Not crazy enough? Well, you’ll be pleased to know that Adams was also said to have owned an alligator in the East Room.

Martin Van Buren, the 8th US President, was gifted two tiger cubs by Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman. Naturally, Congress forced their leader to donate the tigers to a zoo.

Abraham Lincoln refused a present intended for James Buchanan

Fast forwarding to around 1857, past countless ponies, dogs, and cats, President James Buchanan accepted two Thai Elephants from the King of Siam. Unfortunately, they arrived during Lincoln’s presidency and he outright refused to take them.

Lincoln was clearly dedicated to his domesticated animals, owning everything from goats to a turkey that was originally heading for the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Though not strictly wild or strange, Rutherford B. Hayes owned the very first Siamese cat in the United States, which he uncreatively called Siam.

After another few years of dogs and barnyard animals, Benjamin Harrison introduced two alligators into the White House Conservatory with two opossums named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection after the Republican Party platform: “Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of Republican policy and go hand in hand.”

Theodore Roosevelt had the most amount of pets

Theodore Roosevelt, who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909, owned a plethora of mundane animals that must have made the White House seem like a petting zoo.

It’s believed that Teddy kept a family of guinea pigs, a shetland pony, countless horses, chickens, a lizard, a macaw, a garter snake, a small black bear, a rat, badgers, pigs, rabbits, owls, and even a laughing hyena called Bill. Of course, he also owned just about every dog and cat breed you could imagine.

President number 30 Calvin Coolidge followed in Roosevelt’s footsteps with dozens of dogs, cats, and barn animals. He also loved an exotic pet as much as the next President, owning a bobcat, two lion cubs, a pygmy hippopotamus, a wallaby, an antelope, and a black bear named Bruno.

Another forest elephant, Dzimbo, graced the White House in 1959, though President Dwight D. Eisenhower soon donated him to the National Zoo.

White House pets have changed in recent years

With changing attitudes and a better understanding of the animal conversation, it’s only natural that the exotic pets the White House came to be known for decreased over the years.

The last truly wild animal to be gifted to the White House was an elephant gifted to Jimmy Carter’s daughter Amy, though he too was sent to the National Zoo.

The most recent pets to strut into the Oval Office are Joe Biden’s, which include German Shepherds Champ, Major, and Commander, a tabby called Willow, and a horse given to him by the Prime Minister of Mongolia in 2011.