Presidential Pets: The Weird, Wacky, Little, Big, Scary, Strange Animals That Have Lived In The White House / Julia Moberg

It's been said that if you want a friend at the White House, get a dog. Or, we might add, perhaps a cat, bird, bear, or maybe an alligator! Throughout America's history, the presidential menagerie has included an array of creatures both big and small, ordinary and absurd.

This inside look at the White House's animal residents features a rollicking, rhyming verse for each commander-in-chief's pets, accompnied by cool facts, presidential stats, and laugh-out-loud cartoon art. John Quincy Adams kept an alligator in the bathtub, while Thomas Jefferson's pride and joy was his pair of bear cubs. Andrew Jackson had a potty-mouthed parrot, and Martin Van Buren got into a fight with Congress over his tow baby tigers. First daughter Caroline Kennedy's pony Macaroni had free riegn over the White House. But the pet-owningwinner of all the presidents was Theodore Roosevelt, who had a hyena, lion, zebra, badger, snake, rats, a nippy dog that bit the French ambassador, and more!