Page 16 - ARUBA TODAY

A16 FEATURE
Tuesday 25 July 2017

A vacant White House job: first pet

This Aug. 24, 1992 file photo shows President Bush, right, and
first lady Barbara Bush walking with their dog Millie across the
In this March 19, 1994 file photo, Socks the cat peers over the podium in the White House briefing South Lawn as they return to the White House.
room in Washington. Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1998 followed Bush’s lead, with a children’s book (AP Photo/Scott Applewhite)
about family dog Buddy and cat Socks. “Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets”
featured photographs of the pets, details on their habits and more than 50 letters from children to through videos. Among website, President Martin
the pets. them was the “Barney Van Buren was given a pair
(AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander) Cam” series of short videos of tiger cubs that he donat-
By CATHERINE LUCEY quired their Portuguese wa- While there have been featuring the Scottish ter- ed to a zoo and President
Associated Press ter dog Bo, it was big news. notable pets in the White rier having adventures in John Quincy Adams was
WASHINGTON (AP) — Po- “In the modern-day presi- House for generations, Mil- the West Wing, with cam- presented an alligator.
litically ambitious pups and dency, almost all of them lie was the first modern eos from the first family and While Trump has not em-
kittens: Put your resumes have had a pet,” said Jen- White House dog, said Pick- White House staff. braced presidential pet
aside. nifer Pickens, a White House ens. She added that Bar- When he declared victory ownership, Vice President
The job of first pet — an en- social expert who wrote bara Bush was the first one in the 2008 presidential Mike Pence has picked up
viable White House gig with “Pets at the White House.” to “use the pet as a tool to race, Barack Obama told the slack. The Pences have
luxurious live-in privileges, Still, she noted, “all didn’t reach out.” his daughters: “You have a bunny, Marlon Bundo,
after-hours access to the necessarily have them at The former first lady wrote earned the new puppy and a cat named Pickles.
president and guaranteed the beginning of the ad- “Millie’s Book: As Dictated that’s coming with us to Another cat named Oreo
positive press coverage — ministration.” to Barbara Bush,” which the White House.” Several recently died.
is not currently available. Power and pets have long reached the number one months later, Bo joined And they just added two
That’s because President gone hand in hand. spot on the New York Times the family, a gift from the more pets to the household
Donald Trump is not look- “For some reason people nonfiction best seller list in late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Bo — puppy Harley and cat
ing for a fluffy sidekick at in power, they end up suf- the fall of 1990. The news- quickly became a house- Hazel. They also installed a
the moment. Asked about focating different opinions paper’s description: hold name, appearing on beehive.
plans for a four-legged ad- and dominating their staff, “The memoirs of the English morning television shows Pickens said she doesn’t
dition to the White House, but they in some ways long springer spaniel who lives in and in videos promoting know that it matters if Trump
Stephanie Grisham, a for someone who will speak the White House.” the White House Easter egg gets a dog, but she said
spokeswoman for Melania up to them, and a pet will,” Hillary Rodham Clinton in roll. they are “effective tools to
Trump, said in a statement: said Doug Wead, a former 1998 followed Bush’s lead, Some notable pets be- connect with the American
“The first family is still get- George H.W. Bush admin- with a children’s book longed to first kids, includ- people and I think pets help
ting settled so there are no istration staffer who wrote about family dog Bud- ing Amy Carter’s Siamese humanize the presidency.”
plans at this time.” books on presidential chil- dy and cat Socks. “Dear cat Misty Malarky Ying Of course, while pet owner-
If Trump stays pet-free, he dren and the 2016 cam- Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Yang and Caroline Ken- ship can provide personal
will be breaking with a long paign. Letters to the First Pets” fea- nedy’s pony Macaroni. The and political perks, it can
held tradition of presiden- Wead noted that political tured photographs of the Kennedy family had a veri- also go wrong. Former GOP
tial pet ownership. pets can sometimes be pets, details on their habits table menagerie of pets, presidential candidate Mitt
President Franklin Delano used for, well, politics. He and more than 50 letters complete with dogs, cats, Romney was dogged by
Roosevelt’s had his be- recalled an event after Mil- from children to the pets. birds, hamsters and a rab- criticism for admitting that
loved terrier Fala. Presi- lie had puppies that was During President George bit named Zsa Zsa. during a 1983 family vaca-
dent George H.W. Bush’s “carefully choreographed W. Bush’s administration, Going back in White House tion, he strapped his Irish
English springer spaniel Mil- so guests could see all when the White House was history, some presidential setter — in a pet carrier —
lie was featured on “The these little puppies.” closed for tours after 9/11, pet stories get more out- to the roof of his car for a
Simpsons.” When President “It was calculated like a the administration tried to landish. According to the 12-hour drive from Boston
Barack Obama’s family ac- state dinner,” he said. connect with the public Presidential Pet Museum to Canada.q