CATS in the WHITE HOUSE


President Abraham Lincoln 16th President (1861-1865)
Abe Lincoln

Abe Lincoln was the first President to bring a cat into the White House: When son Tad asked to bring his cat Tabby, Lincoln agreed. Later, on a visit to General Grant's headquarters in the middle of winter, Lincoln found three half-frozen kittens there and took them back to the White House.

President Rutherford B. Hayes 19th President (1877-1881)
Rutherford B Hayes

A gift from the American Consul in Bangkok, Siam was the first Siamese cat to reach the United States.  Also had a cat named Piccolomini and a Siamese named Miss Pussy.


President Theodore Roosevelt 26th President (1901-1909)
Theodore Roosevelt

His gray, six-toed cat Slippers would fall asleep in a hallway, resulting in the guests at a state banquet detouring around her. The Roosevelts also had a cat named Tom Quartz. Tom Quartz was named after the cat in Roughing It by Mark Twain. [They also had 9 dogs, a garter snake, a pony, pig, badger, rat, guinea pigs, hen, macaw, rooser, and a pony.]
President Calvin Coolidge 29th President (1923-1929)
Calvin Coolidge 

Calvin and Grace Coolidge pretty much had a zoo at the White House. Their cats were Smokey, Blackie, Timmy and Tiger. Timmy allowed Coolidge's canary to sleep between his paws. Tiger,
a gray-striped stray, traveled around the White House around the President's neck. When Tiger went missing, Coolidge appealed to the people by calling for their help on a radio address.


Woodrow Wilson
28th President (1913-1921)
Woodrow Wilson

President Wilson had a cat named Puffins.
President John F. Kennedy  35th President (1961-1963)
John F. Kennedy


Daughter Caroline Kennedy's Tom Kitten was removed from office when it was discovered that President Kennedy was allergic.  When Tom Kitten died, it was given an obituary in a Washington newspaper.


President Gerald Ford1 38th President (1974-1977)
Gerald Ford

Daughter Susan had a beautiful Siamese named Shan.
President Jimmy Carter 39th President (1977-1981)
Jimmy Carter

Daughter Amy Carter owned a Siamese cat with the intriguing name "Misty Malarky Ying Yang" who lived with her in the White House.


President Bill Clinton 42nd President (1993-2001)
Bill Clinton

Socks moved to the White House with the Clintons in 1993, and was the first cat to live in the White House since Amy Carter's cat.
President George W. Bush 43rd President (2001-2009)
George W. Bush

India "Willie" Bush, a beautiful black cat, had been a beloved member of the Bush family for several years when the family moved into the White House.

The 25th President (1897-1901) William McKinley and the 40th President (1981-1989) Ronald Reagan also owned cats, but they apparently did not move into the White House. Ronald Reagan owned Cleo and Sara, tortoiseshell strays, as well as several unnamed cats. 

Although it's unknown if 13th President (1850-1853) Millard Fillmore had cats in the White House, he was a founding member and president of the Buffalo chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.


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