It is official. Come April, a Portuguese water dog will join the First Family, and the Obamas will join the long list of First Families who have owned First Dogs.
Harry S. Truman is credited as saying: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” Actually, Truman probably never said this; it likely came from a line from the one-man play Give ‘em Hell, Harry by Samuel Gallu (1975). Americans do not care if Truman said it or not. The statement expresses the sentiment of the masses – if you want to be a loved American president, own a dog. Dogs are loyal companions, trustworthy, friendly. And who can resist a lopping tongue and wagging tail? To own such a loveable creature surely proves the dog owner exhibits the same characteristics. Owning a dog can save your political career. If Richard Nixon, who introduced America to a cocker spaniel named Checkers, was still around he could testify to that.
The love affair between dog and president is not new. President Lyndon B. Johnson owned a pack of beagles with unimaginative names such as Him, Her, Beagle, and Little Beagle. President George H. W. and Barbara Bush had a springer spaniel, Millie, whose book outsold the biography of her owner. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the proud owner of Fala, a Scottish terrier, who was so famous a movie was made about him in 1942. Fala became a movie character played by canine star Whiskers in Princess O’Rourke, starring Olivia de Havilland.
The first president to own dogs was George Washington. His pack was descended from English hounds brought into colonial America by Robert Brooke in 1650. (It is believed these dogs became the root of several strains of American hounds.) Marquis de Lafayette gave Washington five Grand Bleu de Gascogne, a rare breed of French hound. When Washington bred his English hounds with the French hounds, the Father of Our Country became the father of a new breed, the American Fox Hound.
Often owners name their dogs based on personality traits. One can easily imagine Washington’s hounds in full pursuit, with names like Forester, Captain, Lady Rover, Vulcan, and Searcher. These dogs were surely expert hunters. Taster, Tipsy, Tipler, and Drunkard may have been more suited for resting by the fire. Also in the pack was Sweetlips, who probably gave many doggie kisses to her owner.
The expression may have been born many years after George Washington was president, but he obviously believed if you want a friend, get a dog. And he obviously had many friends.
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