Essay:The descent of dog in American politics
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The term "man's best friend" has been attributed to Frederick II, King of Prussia (1712–1786), who referred to his dog "Biche" as his best friend.[1]:521
For some reason, it became commonplace for United States presidents to have pet dogs while residing in the White House. Perhaps because as one rises to power in politics, one will have fewer and fewer friends who will like one as one is. One's dog, unless abused, will be friends with its master. The statement, "If You Want a Friend in Washington, Get a Dog." has been attributed to President Harry Truman, but there is no evidence that he said that and it is likely much older.[2]
What follows is an abbreviated history of White House dogs.
- George Washington (1732––1799), the first president (1789-1797), had the first presidential dogs[3]
- John Adams (1735–1862), the second president (1797-1801) and a Founding Father, had three dogs, one of whom was named Satan.[3] Not much is known about Adams' dogs, but this much can be deduced: Satan was Adams' best friend, which puts the lie to The United States as a Christian nation.
- Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president (1861-1865), had a dog named Fido (Latin for loyal). Fido was assassinated by a drunken asshole a few months after Lincoln's assassination.[4] This was the origin the word "fido" being a synonym for dog.[5]
- Lyndon Johnson (1908–1973), the 37th president (1963-1969), had several dogs, including at least three long-and-floppy eared beagles at the White House. On several occasions in public he lifted a beagle up by the ears, something that causes pain for the dog, and caused dog lovers to be upset by the first incident.[6] After his presidency, an LP of a 1972 recording was posthumously released titled Stories by Lyndon B. Johnson, but with "Dogs Ahave Always Been my Friends" on the cover.[7][8] Perhaps, Johnson's belligerent political style[9] was reflected in the Bible passage, Proverbs 26:17, "He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears."
- Richard Nixon: Nixon's dog descent began when he was running for Vice President as Dwight Eisenhower's running mate in 1952. Nixon was accused of using some funds from a political fund for personal use (the fund had a total of $75,000, or the equivalent of $900,000 in 2025). In response to this, he gave he famous "Checkers Speech",
in which he denied having taken funds for personal use from the fund but stated that he would not give up his dog, "Checkers", that was a gift from a donor. It was a blatant appeal to emotion, use of the dog as a prop. The scandal seems laughable by current standards, where billionaires, law firms, universities, and foreign countries have openly bribed the sitting president.
- Mitt Romney, ex-Massachusetts governor, ex-US Senator, and candidate for president in 2008 and 2012, admitted to strapping his dog Seamus to the roof of their car on family trips, something that is widely regarded as inhumane.[10]
- Donald Trump has a known hatred for dogs, late ex-wife Ivana wrote discretely that "Donald was not a dog fan."[11]:55 Donald himself has been more overt in his hatred for dogs by frequently using the word dog as a derogatory word when disparaging people: "fired like a dog", "choke like a dog", "sweating like a dog", "died like a dog".[12][13] The frequent use of dog as pejorative encodes his innate racism (as a literal dogwhistle), particularly when he uses it against non-white people,[14] e.g., Omarosa Manigault Newman[15] and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[14] That was all from Trump's first term as president and earlier. For his second term, he relied on calling cards from potential allies indicating that they hate dogs at least as much as he does:
- Kevin Roberts (president of The Heritage Foundation, and mastermind the blueprint for Trump's second coming, Project 2025) — His former university colleagues alleged that he had beaten a neighbor's dog to death with a shovel in 2004.[16]
- Kristi Noem (Secretary of Homeland Security, 2025-) wrote in her 2024 memoir that rather than giving her dog Cricket up for adoption, she shot her young dog dead because she was unable to train it (she also killed a male goat the same way because it was "disgusting, musky, rancid").[17][18] Whereas Romney in his defense stated, "I didn’t eat my dog. I didn’t shoot my dog. I loved my dog, and my dog loved me." Noem on the other hand said of Cricket, "I hated that dog."[19][18]
References[edit]
- ↑ The life of Frederick the Second, King of Prussia: To Which are Added Observations, Authentic Documents, and a Variety of Anecdotes by J.-Charles Laveaux (1789) J. Debrett.
- ↑ If You Want a Friend in Washington, Get a Dog (May 23, 2010) Quote Investigator.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Do You Have a Dog in This Election? Pets Are Presidential by Pamela Redmond Satran (Nov. 5, 2012, at 3:02 p.m.) U.S. News & World Report.
- ↑ Lincoln’s Dog Fido by Donald R. McClarey (January 30, 2011) The American Catholic (archived from May 17, 2018).
- ↑ Why Are Dogs So Frequently Called "Fido"? by Stanley Coren (October 12, 2011) Psychology Today.
- ↑ The First Beagles Whose Ears LBJ Just Had to Tug Life.
- ↑ Stories by Lyndon B. Johnson WorldCat.
- ↑ Dogs Have Always Been My Friends YouTube.
- ↑ Lyndon Johnson and the "Johnson Treatment" Smithsonian.
- ↑ Dog Lovers Blast Ann Romney For Supporting Mitt's 'Inhumane' Dog Treatment by Amy Bingham (April 17, 2012) ABC News.
- ↑ Raising Trump by Ivana Trump (2017) Gallery Books. ISBN ISBN 1501177281.
- ↑ Trump Doesn't Like Dogs and Dogs Don't Like Him, According to His Ex-Wife by Jessica Kwong (Aug 15, 2018) Newsweek.
- ↑ Remarks by President Trump on the Death of ISIS Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (October 27, 2019) White House Archives.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 When Trump calls someone a dog, he’s tapping into ugly history by Alexandra Isfahani-Hammond (December 13, 2019 8:44am EST) The Conversation.
- ↑ In series of nasty tweets, Trump calls Omarosa ‘dog,’ ‘lying lowlife’ by Catherine Lucey & Jill Colvin (Aug 14, 2018 4:18 PM EDT) PBS.
- ↑ Project 2025 mastermind allegedly told colleagues he killed a dog with a shovel by Stephanie Kirchgaessner & Reyes Mata III (24 Sep 2024 05.00 EDT) The Guardian.
- ↑ Trump VP contender Kristi Noem writes of killing dog – and goat – in new book. South Dakota governor includes bloody tale in campaign volume – and admits ‘a better politician … wouldn’t tell the story here’ by Martin Pengelly (26 Apr 2024 12.14 EDT) The Guardian.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 No Going Back by Kristi Noem (2024) Center Street. ISBN 1546008160.
- ↑ Mitt Romney says his dog scandal doesn’t compare to Kristi Noem’s: ‘I didn’t shoot my dog’ by Martin Pengelly (1 May 2024 09.41 EDT) The Guardian.