Palo Alto was an English Setter bird dog who briefly belonged to President Calvin Coolidge and his family during their time in the White House. Palo Alto was presented to President Coolidge in September of 1928 as a puppy. Coolidge, who had little time for actual hunting, knew that the White House was no place for a hunting dog.
Coolidge spoke with his aide, Colonel E.W. Starling, and Palo Alto was given to Starling’s brother, who did live in Christian County, Kentucky. The press at the time erroneously reported that Coolidge himself was going to train Palo Alto for hunting, but Coolidge explained that it had been a misunderstanding. “I presume that all the hunting I will do in Kentucky will be done by proxy through this dog,” he added in an interview with The Milwaukee Journal.
