James A. Garfield had a dog named Veto.
James A. Garfield didn’t have the strangest presidential pet — that distinction probably belongs to either John Quincy Adams’ alligator (which he kept in a bathtub) or Martin Van Buren’s two tiger cubs — but his dog Veto might have had the cleverest name. Named after the presidential power to prevent a bill passed by Congress from becoming law, the black Newfoundland was described by the Lewiston Evening Journal as “a true protector” who once alerted his humans to a barn fire by barking, and who also once “held the reins of a valuable horse on a rampage in the barn” until help arrived to resolve the equine emergency.
This wasn’t just a bit of humor on Garfield’s part. According to the book First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Best Friends, the 20th President “wanted to remind the rambunctious Congress of 1881 that he might not sign all of the bills it passed,” as he considered some of them “a revolution against the Constitution.” Neither Garfield nor Veto spent much time in the White House, alas. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, and died on September 19 after just 200 days in office, with many historians believing that insufficient medical treatment contributed to his untimely death.
Though the vast majority of Presidents have had pets, most have had only a few. Dogs and cats are common, especially lately, but horses were rather popular in the 19th century, and several commanders in chief have kept more exotic creatures at 1600 Pennsylvania. That includes bear cubs (Thomas Jefferson), raccoons, and even a bobcat (both Calvin Coolidge). When it comes to sheer quantity, however, no one tops Theodore Roosevelt. The 26th President had around 40 pets, including 11 horses, five guinea pigs, a badger, six dogs, a bear, a hyena, and flying squirrels, to name just a few.
