White House Christmas Features Presidential Pets
Tue Dec 3, 7:58 AM ET
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A decorative menagerie of presidential pets will fill the White House for Christmas in a holiday-theme reunion that provides a reminder of the comfort they have given in troubled times.
First lady Laura Bush said on Monday she chose to highlight presidential pets and wild birds in the White House holiday decorations because they had been a source of amusement and comfort since last year's attacks on the United States.
"We picked animals just because there is a very interesting story about all the different animals that have lived in the White House ... but also because our animals have been a great source of comfort to us ... since Sept. 11, 2001," Bush said.
"They are a great amusement and distraction but also they make the White House home for us," she said.
Bush spoke after the White House Christmas tree -- an 18 1/2 foot Noble fir from Elma, Washington -- arrived at the presidential residence in a traditional horse-drawn wagon.
The tree will be decorated with representations of more than 400 birds from across the United States.
Decorations throughout the executive mansion will include papier-mache depictions of the presidential pets, including Macaroni, a horse belonging to John Kennedy's daughter, Caroline, and of Calvin Coolidge's pet raccoons, which he used to walk on a leash.
Also featured will be Millie, which was owned by former first Lady Barbara Bush, President Bush (news - web sites)'s mother.
Millie is the mother of the current president's dog Spot, the first pet to live in the White House under two administrations.
Other White House pets have included a pony, Algonquin, belonging to Theodore Roosevelt's son Archie, and Nelson, a horse owned by the first president, George Washington.
The Presidential Pet Museum Internet site (www.presidentialpetmuseum.com) lists a virtual zoo, including parrots, a billy goat, an alligator, bald eagles, guinea pigs and a badger.
There will also be depictions of sheep, which grazed the White House lawn to keep it trimmed during a World War One staff shortage.
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