Monday was President’s Day. A virtual trip to the Presidential Pet Museum made it easy to hail the resident pets-in-chief throughout history. But to celebrate the two men whom President’s Day initially honored, George Washington (whose birthday is really today) and Abraham Lincoln (whose birthday was February 12th), I thought I’d profile the pets that were specific to their administrations:
George Washington: Born February 22, 1732; Served as President 1789-1797
Technically his pets never lived at the White House, because it wasn’t built yet. (John Adams was the first president with the distinction and honor of residing there, and he was also the one to build the first stable.) Still, Washington had pets that he kept at Mount Vernon, his home.
Since Mount Vernon was a working farm, he had many of the traditional farm animals you’d expect, but in addition to those, his wife, Martha, had a parrot, and they had a pack (or two) of dogs –at least twelve!– plus stallions and horses.
His favorite animal was said to be a steed named Nelson. It was while on this mount that that he accepted the surrender from General Charles Cornwall that ended the Revolutionary War. (Nelson was front and center to watch history being made!)
Abraham Lincoln: Born February 12, 1809; Served as President 1861-1865
Abraham Lincoln passed down his love of animals to his sons, Willie and Tad. He allowed them to have as many pets as they wanted, and they did: from a pig, ponies, and rabbits, to cats, dogs, goats, and turkeys.
The latter two in particular caught my eye because some of the stories surrounding them displayed Lincoln’s tender heart. The goats, Nanny and Nanko, got to ride with Lincoln in the presidential carriage. And the turkey, named Jack, was originally meant to be dinner, not a pet. But Tad grew attached to the bird and begged his father not to kill it, which he didn’t.
There’s also a funny story I stumbled across concerning Jack the turkey. On Election Day in 1864 the Civil War was underway very near Washington, D.C. To give soldiers the chance to vote, there was a special booth set up on the premises at the White House. Here comes Jack –with Lincoln, his private secretary Noah Brooks, and Tad looking on from a window– strutting in the middle of the voters. The conversation is reported to have gone thusly:
“Why is your turkey at the polls? Does he vote?” Lincoln asked his son.
“No,” Tad answered, “he’s not of age yet.”
Reviews of Places Mentioned in This Article:
Mount Rushmore National Memorial