Presidential Pet Museum

john f kennedy

JFK’s Rabbit, Zsa Zsa

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We couldn't find a photo of Zsa Zsa, but we imagine the rabbit looked kind of like this — only chubbier. (Stock photo by Eric Isselee)
We couldn’t find a photo of Zsa Zsa, but we imagine the rabbit looked kind of like this — only chubbier. (Stock photo by Eric Isselee)

The Kennedy family is known for its menagerie of pets. President John F. Kennedy loved animals and showered his children with pets, even though he had allergy issues. During his term, there was quite the zoo at the White House — and for a brief moment in time, Zsa Zsa the rabbit was among them.

Zsa Zsa, a white rabbit, was gifted to the First Family in early 1961 by a magician in Pennsylvania. The magician claimed Zsa Zsa had grown too fat to fit into a hat.

Press secretary Pierre Salinger, in an interview with Time magazine, said Zsa Zsa was supposed to be able to play the first five bars of “The Star-Spangled Banner” on a toy trumpet. “Was Zsa Zsa playing the trumpet when she came in?” the reporter asked, to which Salinger retorted, “No, the trumpet came separately.”

It is also rumored that the chubby rabbit liked to drink beer.

According to The Good Son: JFK Jr. and the Mother He Loved, Zsa Zsa was named after celebrity Zsa Zsa Gabor, a friend of the president’s.

Zsa Zsa the rabbit wasn’t in the spotlight for very long — she was quickly relocated to a children’s home in Maryland.

Other presidents have had rabbits as pets, including Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

Jackie Kennedy’s Horse, Sardar

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First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy introduces her daughter, Caroline, to Sardar, in Arlington, Virginia, 1962.
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy introduces her daughter, Caroline, to Sardar in Arlington, Virginia, 1962.

On March 23, 1962, Jacqueline Kennedy received a precious gift from Muhammad Ayub Khan, the president of Pakistan: a horse named Sardar.

During one of the First Lady’s trips to Pakistan, she had the opportunity to go riding with President Khan, who seemed captivated by her. That night, President Khan presented Jackie Kennedy with a beautiful necklace and then Sardar, the 10-year-old bay gelding she had ridden on their afternoon jaunt.

When it was time to fly home, Jackie even pleaded with President Kennedy to give special treatment to Sardar that would allow the horse to skip customs. The president agreed and, according to Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years, he even teased his wife that “the government had dropped all its other work on domestic and international affairs in order to devote full-time attention to Sardar.”

This uncommon request did meet some backlash. Republican Congressman Walter McVey complained about being refused transportation on a Military Air Transport Service flight because he was not a member of the reserves — but that Sardar had netted an Air Force plane for his own transport.

According to McVey, “Sardar has more influence than a congressman,” and he queried whether Sardar was a “military reservist or a member of the reserve.” McVey, perhaps understanding that insulting the First Lady’s new love was not wise, apologized to Sardar shortly thereafter.

Sardar arrived from Pakistan.
Sardar arrived from Pakistan.

Her “Favorite Treasure”

Jackie, an avid horsewoman all her life, promptly fell in love with Sardar.

According to History.com, Jackie so loved Sardar that she referred to him as her “favorite treasure in her private memoirs.” And although accepting costly gifts could be looked at askance, Jackie maintained Sardar’s care from her personal funds.

Sardar was even once part of a small scandal of his own. Apparently, some protestors took offense to him and his pony friends, Tex and Macaroni, walking around the White House grounds without clothes. White House staff tried to keep a straight face but found the picketers’ cause to be rather hilarious.

Sardar, of course, couldn’t care less about appearing in public in the nude.

The First Lady rides Sardar at Glen Ora, Sept. 25, 1962.
The First Lady rides Sardar at Glen Ora, Sept. 25, 1962.

Going for Rides

Once Sardar was part of the Kennedy family, the First Lady could often be seen riding him either on the White House grounds or at Glen Ora, the Kennedys’ home in Virginia, often alongside her daughter, Caroline.

After the assassination of President Kennedy, it was said that Sardar was the riderless horse that followed the caisson of the president. The horse was “skittish” and seemed unused to the activity of the crowds. However, the next day the White House stated that it was not Sardar but a military horse named Black Jack.

After Jackie Kennedy left the White House, Sardar presumably lived most of his days quite happily at the Kennedy’s Virginia home.

JFK’s Puppies: Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie, and Streaker

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Pushinka and puppies as newborns, June 18, 1963.
Pushinka and her puppies as newborns, June 18, 1963.

During John F. Kennedy’s presidency, he received a gift from Soviet Premier Khrushchev: the dog Pushinka. Pushinka, after being checked out by the Secret Service to make sure she wasn’t bugged, soon settled into the White House with the Kennedy family.

Pushinka was very welcome by one member of the family in particular: the Kennedy’s Welsh terrier, Charlie.

Pushinka and Charlie had a litter of puppies together in June 1963, and JFK called them the “pupniks.”

According to presidential dog wrangler Traphes Bryant, writing in Dog Days at the White House, President Kennedy also asked about the puppies regularly, things like “How long would the pups keep their eyes closed?” and “When could they go out on the lawn to play?”

4 Puppies in the White House

The puppies — Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie, and Streaker — spent a great deal of time with the Kennedy family in the two months before they were adopted by other families. In fact, it was Carolyn and John-John who gave the puppies their names.

Bryant even brought them to the Kennedy home on Cape Cod so that Caroline and John Jr. could see the puppies.

And Mrs. Kennedy told me…that while they were at the Cape, that would be the only time that the children would be able to enjoy the pups because when they came back to the White House, so many social things were going on that they wouldn’t actually have time to…. The four pups were given away before they returned to the White House.”

When JFK visited the family compound on the Cape, he even enjoyed playing with the “pupniks” on the lawn.

Pushinka with her four puppies, Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie, Streaker. July 9, 1963.
Pushinka with her four puppies, Butterfly, White Tips, Blackie, Streaker. July 9, 1963.

Kids Selected to Receive Puppies

When the puppies were born, around 5,000 people wrote in to the White House asking if they could have a puppy.

When the puppies were 2 months old, First Lady Jackie Kennedy asked White House staff to choose 10 finalist letters. From those letters, Jackie herself selected two children to receive puppies:

  1. Ten-year-old Karen House of Westchester, Illinois, was thrilled to adopt Butterfly.
  2. Nine-year-old Mark Bruce of Columbia, Missouri, won the First Lady’s heart with his letter detailing the accidental death of his former dog, and so acquired Streaker.

The First Family didn’t just send the puppies off; they paid for the expense of sending the puppies to their new homes and even included a dossier explaining Butterfly’s and Streaker’s preferences and habits.

The other two puppies were later given away to family friends.

Descendants of these famous pups can still be found today.

JFK’s Cat, Tom Kitten

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Pamela Turnure, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's press secretary, introduces the press to Tom Kitten, Jan. 24, 1961. Photo: Abbie Rowe/White House, courtesy John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
Pamela Turnure, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s press secretary, introduces the media to Tom Kitten, Jan. 24, 1961. Photo: Abbie Rowe/White House, courtesy John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

Tom Kitten, sometimes called “Tom Terrific” — when he wasn’t making the president sneeze — belonged to President Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy. What makes Tom interesting is that he was rarely actually at the White House.

JFK, despite his many pets, had allergies and it seems that Tom’s presence was enough to elicit sneezing, watery eyes, and even swelling in the president.

Therefore, just a few short weeks after Tom arrived at the White House, the president had him go live with White House staffer Mary Gallagher. Gallagher had two sons around Caroline’s age, and she often arranged for Caroline to come over to play — with the boys and the cat.

When President Kennedy was away, Gallagher would occasionally bring Tom Kitten to work with her so Caroline could see him. This did allow for Tom to spend some time in the White House.

A Gift From the Grandparents

Tom was gray with yellow eyes, and although he was termed to be “of the alley variety” by Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, Tom remained well-behaved as reporters snapped photos and got close during his introduction to the press.

Although we’re not able to trace his lineage (the Associated Press said he was of “dubious background”), Tom Kitten did come to the First Family by way of Hugh D. Auchincloss and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy’s mother.

First Pet at the Kennedy White House

An interesting fact about Tom: He was the first Kennedy pet to arrive at the White House, in January 1961. Although the Kennedys eventually had many pets, at the time they only had their Welsh terrier, Charlie.

Unfortunately, Tom died at a very young age on Aug. 21, 1962 — only about a year and a half after he first captured America’s attention. We have been unable to learn the cause of death.

Tom Kitten’s obituary in a local newspaper said, in part:

Unlike many humans in the same position, he never wrote his memoirs of his days in the White House, and never discussed them for quotation, though he was privy to many official secrets.”

$14,950 Photo of a Cat

Even all these years later, Tom Kitten’s memory lives on.

In 1996, a single original print photograph of Tom Kitten sold at auction for $14,950 — an astounding sum that even those of us here at the Presidential Pet Museum cannot fathom.

Later, in 2005, a ring binder of nine black-and-white photographs of the cat also sold at auction, this time for $7,200 for all nine photos, which we suppose is a great bargain by comparison.

These prices were attainable because the Kennedys “touched our lives in a profound way,” said Diana D. Brooks, president of Sotheby’s.

JFK’s Irish Wolfhound, Wolf

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Little John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Evelyn Lincoln, the president's personal secretary, stand with Wolf outside the Oval Office, Oct. 24, 1963.
Little John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Evelyn Lincoln, the president’s personal secretary, stand with Wolf outside the Oval Office, Oct. 24, 1963.

An Irish wolfhound aptly named Wolf joined the Kennedys in the White House in August 1963.

Wolf, sometimes referred to as Wolfie by the family, was given to the Kennedys as a gift from a priest in Dublin, Ireland, named Father Thomas Kennedy.

The Kennedys were great pet lovers who had many pets during their lifetimes. Some of Wolf’s canine siblings were: a German shepherd named Clipper, a cocker spaniel named Shannon, a mixed-breed named Pushinka, a Welsh terrier named Charlie, and four puppies who were the offspring of Pushinka and Charlie.

The Kennedys had so many dogs, in fact, that they built a special area outside the West Wing for the children to safely play with all the animals.

When Wolf first arrived, he had some trouble getting along with his canine companions. Press Secretary Pierre Salinger said of Wolf that he “is very fond of children and humans, but he does not like other dogs.”

It’s said that because of Wolf’s difficulty getting along, he was placed with another family.

Wolf was not the first Irish wolfhound to call the White House home. Herbert Hoover’s Irish wolfhound, Patrick, has that honor.

JFK’s French Poodle, Gaullie

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First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy waves to her dog Gaullie through French doors.
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy waves to her dog Gaullie through French doors.

Gaullie was a French poodle who belonged to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

In her teens, Jackie was “an ardent Francophile,” according to daughter Caroline Kennedy in her book Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy.

During World War II, Jackie was very impressed with French President Charles de Gaulle’s resolve not to give up during this trying time. She named her poodle De Gaulle — shortened to Gaullie — “because he was straight and proud and had a prominent nose.”

Later, when she married future President John F. Kennedy, she found that he loved animals as she did.

Jackie Kennedy with Gaullie.
Jackie Kennedy with Gaullie.

Gaullie went with the First Lady to the White House, where they were joined over the years by several other pets. They had so many animals that JFK had a special play area built outdoors by the West Wing so that their children could play safely with all their pets.

JFK was also the first president to request that the White House dogs greet him at the helicopter when he returned to the White House.

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