Presidential cats have a historical impact

Caroline Kennedy’s pet cat didn’t last long in the White House. Tom Kitten arrived in January 1961 but was diplomatically relieved of his duties as “First Cat” within a couple of weeks. His discharge was not attributed to misbehavior, however.

Shucks, Tom Kitten couldn’t help it that he made President John F. Kennedy sneeze and cause his eyes to water and swell up.

Tom Kitten, who drew his name from the classic children’s book, The Tale of Tom Kitten, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter in 1907, gained a lot of publicity, according to the Presidential Pet Museum.

When White House reporters asked Kennedy’s press secretary Pierre Salinger what was Tom’s breed, he responded: “Tom is gray with yellow eyes and of the alley variety.” Tom Kitten was reassigned to live out his life in the home of Mary Gallagher, who was the personal secretary to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

The pet museum archivist wrote that Gallagher had two sons around Caroline’s age. (She was 3 at the time.) “Gallagher often arranged for Caroline to come over to play – with the boys and the cat.

When Gerald Ford moved into the White House in 1974, daughter Susan Ford was a high school student. Her pet Siamese cat was named Shan, who slept in Susan’s bed at night and spent her days trying to avoid Liberty, the president’s gregarious golden retriever.

One of the highlights of Shan’s career was attending Susan’s senior prom, held on Shan’s turf, the East Room of the executive mansion in 1975. It was the first and only prom staged in the White House.

Of all the pets to occupy the White House, Amy Carter’s Siamese cat probably had the strangest name – Misty Malarky Ying Yang. President Jimmy Carter served from 1977-81. Amy was 9 when the family moved into the White House.

“Misty was active, playful and intelligent,” said Claire McLean, founder of the Presidential Pet Museum. “Misty was totally devoted to Amy, even sleeping in the girl’s dollhouse. Misty often sat in on Amy’s violin sessions, meowing.”

And the most fun fact of all, McLean said is that “despite Misty’s seemingly female moniker – he was, in fact, a boy named Misty.” (What a dagnabbit-good story that is!)

President Bill Clinton’ daughter Chelsea was 12 when the family entered the White House in 1993. Chelsea’s pet cat was named Socks, a classic black-and-white tuxedo cat. He was homeless when Chelsea adopted him in 1991, while the Clintons were living in Little Rock, Ark.

President Clinton dubbed Socks as “Chief Executive Cat,” and the cat had his own fan club page on the White House website and his own in-box for the fan mail. However, Socks was not happy when the Clintons acquired Buddy, a Labrador retriever in 1997.

“Socks found Buddy’s intrusion intolerable,” according to First Lady Hillary Clinton. “Socks despised Buddy from first sight, instantly and forever.” The president quipped: “I did better with the Palestinians and the Israelis than I ever did with Socks and Buddy.”

President George W. Bush brought the family cat named India to the White House in 2001. She was solid black and nicknamed “Willie.” The Bush administration’s website reported that the cat was “known to be very shy and reclusive, preferring to hang out in the White House library.”

In the United States, cats outrank dogs in population, according to the statisticians at worldatlas.com. In its 2018 pet census, there are about 93.6 million cats in America, compared to about 79.5 million dogs.

Pro-cat people include Dr. Mary Bly, a Shakespearean professor at Fordham University in New York City. She contends: “Dogs come when they’re called; cats take a message and get back to you later.”

Humorist Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), who lived with 19 cats, said: “If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.”

Biographer Albert Biglow Paine said: “Twain suffered from nervousness about his writing,” and his cats helped calm him.

Twain also taught one to play billiards, said blogger Elizabeth Fais. “One special kitten played pool with Twain. He would tuck the male kitten into one of the corner pockets,” she wrote. “The kitten swiped at the balls as they darted by, amusing Twain to no end. Rejuvenated by the kitten’s antics, Twain could then return to his writing.”