WHITE HOUSE PETS

by Margaret Truman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 20, 1969

Dad could take or leave pets,"" announces Miss Margaret, rather a pet herself on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Forties. But President Truman seems to have been one of the few afaunal lairds of the White House. In this anecdotal splatter of pet tales, Miss Truman flips back and forth amongst White House apocrypha to unearth--in a regrettably prim recounting--pet miscellany from Washington (who broke his own horses) to the late Checkers--who never lived to gambol on the Presidential greensward. T.R.'s cat Slippers, around whose reclining form an entire dinner party tiptoed; Harding's Laddie Boy, a huge campaign asset; F.D.R.'s Major, who bit Senator Hattie Caraway, and of course Fala; Pauline, bovine treasure of President Taft; the goat that curled on Tad Lincoln's bed; the horse that President Kennedy invited into the study--all make their brief appearances, mainly caught in inappropriate behavior. The nomenclature, however, is worthy of the address--Washington's horse ""Nelson,"" Jackson's ""Truxton,"" a T.R. guinea pig named ""Father O'Grady"" and best of all. Alice Roosevelt Longworth's snake named ""Edith Spinach."" Tame but name-plated for salability.

Pub Date: Dec. 20, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McKay

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION