The Politics of Dogs
Sep 23, 2025
Today is Checkers Day. No, not the game, the Cocker Spaniel who saved a political career.
In 1952, when Richard Nixon was running for Vice President, he was accused of using donations intended as campaign funds for his own personal gain. Two weeks before election day, he delivered a half-hour televised speech, defending himself and explaining how the money had been used. He did say there was one gift he wouldn’t give back – the black and white Cocker Spaniel he had been given and his children named Checkers.
While today is called Checkers Day, it’s also called Dogs in Politics Day. Turns out most of our Presidents, from George Washington to Joe Biden, have had a little dog hair on their Oval Office chairs. President Trump has said he doesn’t have time to devote to having a dog, so as with the first time around, the second Trump presidency doesn’t feature a furry First Friend.
If you’re intensely curious, a wiki page lists the types and number of pets owned by our Presidents. Here are the highlights:
- George Washington – American Foxhounds, Black and Tan Coonhounds, and a Greyhound
- Abraham Lincoln – Fido – an all-American dog that was killed by a drunk with a knife about two months after Lincoln was assassinated
- James Garfield – a dog named Veto
- Teddy Roosevelt – Manchester Terrier, a myriad of mixed breed dogs, Pekingese, Saint Bernard, and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever
- William Howard Taft – Caruso the mixed-breed dog, a gift from opera star Enrico Caruso
- Herbert Hoover – Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd, Fox Terriers, Scotch Collie, Canadian Eskimo Dog, Irish Wolfhound, Setter, Norwegian Elkhound
- John F. Kennedy – Standard Poodle, Welsh Terrier, Doberman Pinscher, Cocker Spaniel, German Shepherd, a handful of mixed-breed dogs, and the mixed-breed daughter of Soviet space dog Strelka, who was a gift from Nikita Khrushchev
- Richard Nixon – Poodle, Yorkshire Terrier, Irish Setter, and of course Checkers the Cocker Spaniel, who didn’t live long enough to be the First Dog – he was the Vice-Presidential dog
- Jimmy Carter – A Border Collie mix who was banished for being a bit too bitey, and Lewis Brown the Afghan Hound
- Ronald Reagan – Bouvier des Flandres, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Golden Retriever, Irish Setter, Siberian Husky, Belgian Sheepdog
As to the story of Checkers and Nixon’s speech that mentioned him, there was an outpouring of support from the public which resulted in his election alongside President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Which is proof that the future President Nixon was guilty of the charges being levied against him in the media leading up to the election in 1952: he did, indeed, accept at least one gift that benefitted him personally!
