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The Top First Dog

By NewHampster on January 25, 2009 at 5:20 AM in Current Affairs

Laddie and his cake
Laddie Boy with his biscuit birthday cake.  Laddie boy was the owner of Warren and Florence Harding.

According to an article at Smithsonian, there had been many pets in the White House but Laddie Boy became a celebrity who’s fame has not been matched, even in the age of television and radio.

Though there were many presidential pets before him, Laddie Boy was the first to receive regular coverage from newspaper reporters. “While no one remembers him today, Laddie Boy’s contemporary fame puts Roosevelt’s Fala, LBJ’s beagles and Barney Bush in the shade,” says Tom Crouch, a Smithsonian Institution historian. “That dog got a huge amount of attention in the press. There have been famous dogs since, but never anything like this.”

During their time in the White House, from 1921 to 1923, the Hardings included their dog in almost every aspect of their daily lives. When Harding golfed with friends, Laddie Boy tagged along. During cabinet meetings, the dog sat in (perched on his own chair). At fundraising events, the first lady frequently had Laddie Boy make appearances. The dog was such a prominent White House personality that the Washington Star and the New York Times seemed to run stories about the terrier almost daily in the months after Harding took office.

 

This is really a good read to set things in perspective before we have the onslaught of the most beautiful, most loving, best behaved glorious dog to ever grace the Oval Office now or forever onward for eternity.

The Full Article at Smithsonian Magazine

ps.  even hamsters love dogs and I am very much a dog lover who at the current moment is between owners.  when my next owner finds me I’ll let you know.

With his handler
When the Hardings were away, Laddie Boy was left to the care of White House kennel master Wilson Jackson.

Cross posted from Partizane