President Joe Biden’s dog Commander is no longer living at the White House after multiple reported biting incidents injured staff and Secret Service, according to CNN.
The Secret Service acknowledged 11 different incidents of the dog biting personnel, but told CNN “the real number is higher and includes executive residence staff and other White House workers.”
Injuries vary in severity, with several bites requiring attention from the White House Medical Unit. One bite needed hospital treatment, while others have gone untreated or unreported.
The reports around Commander’s behavior raise eyebrows and safety concerns, but the 46th president’s dog is far from the first to cause drama in the White House. In fact, the history of presidential pets is filled with tragedy, controversy and even electoral victory.
Warren G. Harding’s dog, Laddie Boy, was the first to receive newspaper coverage.
In an article for Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institution historian Tom Crouch said, “That dog got a huge amount of attention in the press. There have been famous dogs since, but never anything like this.”
Harding loved the dog so much that he ordered to see Laddie Boy as soon as he was delivered to the White House and interrupting his first cabinet meeting, according to the Smithsonian.
Though Laddie Boy was the first to receive coverage and fame from the press, he was not the first animal to call the White House home. President Theodore Roosevelt famously had a wide variety of animals since he had six children, according to Kansas State University’s Dr. Ronnie Elmore.
In an interview with the K-State Perspectives, Elmore said, “He had a whole zoo there at the White House — all the way from snakes to dogs and cats to parrots.”
According to Elmore, a White House legend alleges that you can still see the hoof prints of Archie Roosevelt’s pony, Algonquin, in the elevator after his brothers brought the pony to visit Archie, Theodore Rooselvelt’s son, when he was sick.
Two dogs are credited with helping presidents win elections. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fala, named after a Scottish ancestor “Murray the Outlaw of Falahill,” was consistently photographed by his side at official duties. Republican opponents of FDR began alleging that Fala was accidentally left behind in the Aleutian Islands and a U.S Navy ship was sent to retrieve him, according to the National Constitution Center. FDR was controversially running for his fourth presidential term and could not stand idly by.
On September 23, 1944, FDR made his now famous Fala speech about the rumors, “[Fala’s] Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog.”
When President Richard Nixon was about to be removed from the Republican ticket as vice president for having an alleged secret slush fund, he appealed to the public with a speech according to K-State Perspectives.
As Nixon outlined his personal finances, he said, “there is one thing that I did get as a gift that I’m not going to give back.”
Nixon was referring to Checkers, a black-and-white cocker spaniel given to his daughters, Tricia and Julie as a gift. After the speech, thousands of telegrams were sent to the Republican National Headquarters stating “Keep Nixon on the ticket!”
According to Elmore, over 400 creatures have lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Nearly every president has owned an animal, including President Benjamin Harrison’s goat, Whiskers, who pulled his grandchildren around in a cart. President Woodrow Wilson’s sheep was used to harvest wool for soldiers during World War I, while President Howard Taft’s dairy cow, Pauline Wayne, provided milk for the White House. President Calvin Coolidge allegedly walked his pet raccoon, Rebecca around on a leash.
As Commander leaves the White House, who knows what pet will come next?