Pets at the White House

by Carl Carmer, Sam Savitt (Illustrator)

The unpretentious dog, horse and parrot are among the wide variety of tame animals who kept the celebrated company of our country's leaders. In this delightfully illustrated book, Carl Carmer relates the fascinating stories of the favorite pets of ten Presidents and their families.

Here are the behind-the-scene glimpses of Martha Washington riding her horse up and down the stairs of a sedate house....Tad Lincoln driving a herd of goats through the East Room of the executive mansion....Thomas Jefferson feeding his mocking-bird..Zack Taylor's horse, "Old Whitey," upsetting a dignified parade.

The tales are arranged chronologically, starting with President Washington and ending with President Eisenhower, and each is set against a background of the historical events of the period.

Genres: Nonfiction

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Carl Cramer is a former professor of English, columnist, and assistant editor of Vanity Fair and Theatre Arts Monthly. In more than thirty years of writing he has produced an impressive list of books, including history, historical novels, poetry and juveniles.

Reviews

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful look at the various animals that have lived in the White House with their presidential owners. Ten chapters each covered one president and his pets, and the last one made brief mentions of pets belonging to other presidents. I would have loved to have visited the White House when Teddy Roosevelt was President, to see the variety and quantity of animals he had. I've never heard of keeping mockingbirds as pets, but that's probably because it's illegal now. It's a shame that it was too cold for all the caged canaries to sing at President Grant's inaugural ball. My only disappointment was the single short paragraph about President Coolidge's raccoon, which I learned about recently on an episode of "Mysteries at the Museum." I was hoping to hear more about Rebecca the raccoon. Nevertheless, I have to recommend this book for animal lovers young and old.

[Jrobert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple quick read about various presidents and the animals kept at the White House during their presidency’s. The copyright is 1959 so most of the presidents are before WW1. Interesting read for lovers of history and pets of any kind.