September 23rd is Dogs in Politics Day
Because, Harry S. Truman once said…
“If you want
a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
Dogs have been around politics, probably as long as there have been politics, which is forever, right? You may remember this famous shot of President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his dog Fala, taking a quick ride around Hyde Park.
Roosevelt owned at least 7 dogs: a German Shepherd (Major), 2 Scotch Terriers (Meggie and Fala), Llewellyn Setter (Winks), English Sheepdog (Tiny), Great Dane (President), and Mastiff (Blaze).
But the most famous of the pup class was Fala, given to the President by his cousin, Margaret Suckley, the star of an MGM Hollywood movie about the typical day of a dog in the White House. Fala also became an honorary army private, and received this honor by contributing one dollar to the war effort setting a trend for the rest of the US. Fala is depicted in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. Meggie, the Roosevelt’s other Terrier, was infamous as she once bit a senator!
Find more at: http://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/whitehousepets-1.htm
