Many presidential pets have followed their owners into office, but none are quite as well-known as those owned by Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR is generally considered to be one of the most influential and successful of all American presidents, but who were the pets he had at his side during his four-term presidency. Franklin D. Roosevelt had five dogs. Read on to learn more about Franklin’s dog name, their personalities, and what made them so special.
How Many Dogs Did FDR Have?
FDR had five dogs during his tenure as president and was a well-documented animal lover.
- Fala was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Scottish Terrier and one of the most famous of all the presidential pets. We’ll go a little more in-depth into Fala and his legacy below. Though Fala charmed the public with his winning personality, FDR had other dogs who weren’t quite as open to receiving all the attention that comes with being a First Dog.
- Major, FDR’s German Shepherd, was a former police dog and had several incidents while living in the White House. In 1933, he bit Senator Hattie Wyatt Caraway as well as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. After these incidents, Major was sent to live at FDR’s private residence in New York and never went back to live at the White House.
- Meggie was another Scottish Terrier kept by the Roosevelt family. Meggie was a bit of a terror herself and was basically given full run of the living quarters in the White House. Like Major, Meggie got herself into trouble with her mischievous nature when she bit a reporter right on the nose. After the incident, she was sent to live with a friend of the family.
- Winks was a Llewellin Setter whom the Roosevelt family acquired in late 1933. Like the aforementioned pets of FDR, Winks had a bit of a naughty streak in him. According to a 1934 report from the Pittsburgh Press, Winks made headlines when he gobbled up almost an unattended meal made for 18 people, clearing nearly a dozen plates before he was discovered.
Not much is known about FDR’s Old English Sheepdog named Tiny. It appears as if Tiny was given to the Roosevelts in 1933 but was gifted less than a year later to a friend of the family.
Though Fala, Major, Meggie, Winks, and Tiny were all owned by FDR, they weren’t the only canine visitors to the White House during his presidency.
Blaze, a 135-pound English Bullmastiff, and President, a Great Dane, were FDR’s son’s dogs.
FDR and His Relationship With Fala
Fala was given to FDR by his cousin, Margaret “Daisy” Suckley. When he first joined the Roosevelt family, his name was Big Boy. The president renamed him Murray the Outlaw of Falahill (“Fala” for short) after one of his Scottish ancestors.
Fala’s White House antics were spoken about quite frequently in the media and by FDR and his wife. He received a bone every morning on FDR’s breakfast tray and received a full dinner every night. He was favored by the servants and White House staff and fed in excess all the time, so much so that they had to be asked not to give him extra food anymore. Fala had a special sleeping spot at the foot of FDR’s bed and tagged along with his owner for both long and short trips by car, train, and even boat.
When FDR was going for reelection in 1944, rumors began to swirl that Fala had been accidentally left behind after a visit to islands in Alaska. After FDR allegedly sent rescue ships back to the islands to retrieve his dog, he was accused of flippantly spending taxpayer’s dollars to get his dog back. In a publicly broadcasted speech after this incident, FDR said that the public could criticize him, his wife, and his family, but they shouldn’t criticize his little dog. He said, “He’s Scottish, and all these allegations about spending all this money have just made his little soul furious.”
The story of leaving Fala behind was false, and Roosevelt’s use of humor to demolish the rumors started by the Republicans reportedly helped secure reelection for FDR.
When FDR died in 1945, Fala attended the funeral and then went to live with Mrs. Roosevelt in the family estate in Hyde Park. He managed to outlive FDR by seven years and was buried near him.
Though his final resting spot is near his owner, Fala is also honored at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC. This national memorial is halfway between the Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and features a statue of FDR with his trusty sidekick by his side.
Fala is the only presidential pet to have been given a statute, a true testament to the relationship the two shared.
What About Teddy Roosevelt?
FDR wasn’t the only president with that surname. His fifth cousin, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, was the 26th President of the United States. The love of animals must be something that comes along with being a Roosevelt, as Teddy had quite the menagerie of domesticated animals. When Teddy and his family moved into the White House in 1901 after his predecessor’s assassination, they brought along with them six children and more animals than the White House had ever seen.
Dogs played an important role in Teddy’s life, but more interestingly, Teddy has a penchant for exotics. Some of their more noteworthy pets included a bear named Jonathon Edwards, guinea pigs with names like Admiral Dewey and Bishop Doane, a pig named Maude, Josiah the badger, a blue Macaw named Eli Yale, a one-legged rooster, a barn owl, Algonquin the pony, and Baron Spreckle, the hen. Of course, they kept more normal animals, like Rollo the St. Bernard, Sailor Boy the Chesapeake Retriever, Pete the Bull Terrier, and Tom Quartz and Slippers, the cats.
Teddy’s favorite dog was a small mixed-breed terrier named Skip, who was given to him by his hunting guide, John Goff. Skip is rumored to have played a big part in laying the foundation for the breed now known as the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier.
Final Thoughts
Many presidents’ pets have carved names for themselves in history. Andrew Jackson’s Grey Parrot Poll reportedly had a fondness for profanities and made quite a disturbance so intense at Jackson’s funeral that the bird had to be removed. Pushinka, John F. Kennedy’s dog, was accused of being a Russian spy. Bo and Sunny, Barack Obama’s Portuguese Water Dogs, were almost dognapped! But, perhaps there are no presidential pets quite as memorable as FDR’s Fala or Teddy Roosevelt’s small zoo.
Featured Image Credit: lunamarina, Shutterstock
