America Celebrates 250: Presidential Cats Edition

This Saturday, July 4th, 2026, marks the 250th birthday of the United States of America. For cat lovers, Saturday is affectionately known as "Caturday," and I thought it would be fun to take a walk down presidential memory lane by highlighting all the U.S. presidents that had cats in their lives. Not all of the felines featured lived at the White House, but they were still integral members of the family.

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

The Sultan of Oman gave President Van Buren a pair of tiger cubs. When Van Buren stated that he wanted to keep the tigers at the White House, Congress intervened and informed the president that the cubs were considered property of the United States of America, and they suggested he donate the tigers to the zoo. This story might not be entirely true, but it is still an interesting myth in American history.

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

President Lincoln is the first known president to have kept cats at the White House. He was gifted a pair of kittens named Tabby and Dixie by Secretary of State William Seward. His affection and adoration of cats ran deep. He was observed on more than one occasion talking to and petting his cats, sometimes for a half hour or more. When dining with his family, Lincoln would feed Tabby from the dinner table, much to the chagrin of his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. Lincoln had a particular fondness for stray cats. While meeting with General Ulysses S. Grant at the Siege of Petersburg in 1865, the mewling of three motherless kittens caught his attention. He picked the kittens up and sat them in his lap, then began wiping their eyes and petting them. The kittens responded to his kindness by purring their gratitude. Lincoln asked a colonel to treat the kittens kindly and make sure they had plenty of milk to drink. Whenever Mary was asked about her husband’s hobbies, she always responded with "cats." Their son, Eddy, also had an affinity for taking in strays.

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

David B. Sickels, the American consul in Bangkok, gave Rutherford and Lucy Hayes a Siamese cat. The cat, originally named Miss Pussy, was the first Siamese cat to come to America. After getting to know the regal feline, Lucy Hayes renamed Miss Pussy to Siam, which was more befitting of her attitude and demeanor. Sadly, Siam passed away months after arriving at the White House from an unknown sickness. The Hayeses had another cat called Piccolomini.

William McKinley (1897-1901)

The story of President McKinley’s cats might be more myth than legend. McKinley and his wife Ida had an Angora cat that birthed a litter of four kittens. After giving two of the kittens away, the McKinleys decided to keep the last two, which were the runts of the litter. One kitten was named Valeriano Weyler, and the other was named Enrique DeLome. Weyler was a Spanish Army officer who became Governor-General of Cuba, while de Lome was the Spanish Ambassador to the United States. Due to the Spanish-American War breaking out, Ida McKinley supposedly used the kittens as a political statement and had them drowned. There is no definitive proof that the McKinleys had a cat, and Ida McKinley was apparently a “gentle” woman who cared about vulnerable creatures, so it seems unlikely that she would have been so cruel as to order death to two innocent kittens.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)

President Roosevelt had between 40 and 50 animals, a veritable menagerie. Two of his most popular pets were his cats Tom Quartz and Slippers. Tom Quartz, a large tomcat, was named after a character in Mark Twain’s book Roughing It. He liked to get a rise out of the Roosevelts' terrier Jack by jumping and climbing over him. Tom was also known to accompany the president to the Oval Office, often taking naps underneath the presidential desk. He was a mischievous kitty who liked to find places to hide and then would yowl until Roosevelt found him. Slippers was a blue polydactyl cat that had the run of the White House, like his brother Tom. After being invited to a formal dinner one time, Slippers decided to attend all formal dinners and was once found napping outside one of the dining room corridors. Roosevelt had to lead the dignitaries who were invited to the dinner to the dining room via another path so as not to disturb his cat. In addition to his domesticated felines, the president had two exotic ones as well. There was a lion called Joe. Roosevelt was gifted the lion from Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II, and once the lion made it to the United States, it was sent to the National Zoo to live out its life. Then there was a Georgia wild cat that was given to Roosevelt by a man named S.J. Nease. Roosevelt knew that he couldn’t keep an undomesticated feline at the White House, so he handed it over to the National Zoo.

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

During WW1, President Wilson had two cats, Puffins and Mittens, living at the White House with him. There isn’t much known about the mischievous felines, but it was reported that they liked to jump on the dining room tables, to the annoyance of the White House staff. To deter them from jumping, the staff and family members spritzed them with water. Of the two cats, Puffins continued to live with Wilson after his time in office was over. 

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

President Coolidge gave Teddy Roosevelt a run for his money in the animal ownership category. While the total number of pets (20-30, including domestic and exotic creatures) that Coolidge had wasn’t nearly as high as Roosevelt’s, his menagerie was just as impressive. While Coolidge was still living in Vermont, he had two cats, Bounder and Climber (Mud). Coolidge liked to hide Bounder in different parts of their house, and Grace Coolidge would rescue the cat, fearing his meows were in distress. On Sundays the Coolidges delighted Bounder by letting him ride the laundry chute. Mud died after Coolidge left for Massachusetts. While living in the White House, two cats named Tiger (Tige) and Blacky stole the show. Both felines loved being outside on the White House lawn, but Tige was known for wandering off. To keep Tige safe, he had to wear a collar with “White House” engraved on it. A short time after getting his new collar, Tige disappeared for good. Blacky wasn’t as people-oriented as his brother Tige. He liked staying on White House grounds while hunting and would bring presents back much to the dismay of Grace Coolidge. When he wasn’t busy hunting, Blacky would wait for the elevator to open so he could take a nap on its bench. Napping and hunting weren’t his only pastimes—looking for handouts from the White House kitchen was something he enjoyed as well. During a breakfast with congressional leaders, Coolidge placed a saucer of cream on the floor, and Blacky hurried in to lap up his treat. It’s presumed that Blacky lived with the Coolidges after their term was over. There were three exotic cats in the Coolidge menagerie: Smoky, a bobcat, was a gift from the Great Smoky Mountains Association. He didn’t appear to spend much time at the White House and was rehomed to a local zoo. Then there were twin lion cubs that were gifted from the mayor of Johannesburg, South Africa. Their names were Tax Reduction and Budget Bureau, and they were also rehomed to a zoo.

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

President Hoover’s wife Lou was gifted a Persian cat named Kitty after the inauguration. The cat had the freedom to roam the White House corridors whenever it pleased. Other cats that were in Hoover’s life included a Siamese called Cat that lived in his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria in the 1960s and Sunny Boy, a pedigreed competition cat that was acquired by Lou Hoover from a woman named Mrs. Whittemore around 1926 or 1927. Sunny Boy apparently didn’t live at the White House, and there doesn’t appear to be any known information as to what happened to him after Mrs. Hoover got him.

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

President Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline, had a cute gray kitty named Tom Kitten. While the family loved Tom, he unfortunately had to be rehomed due to the president’s allergy to cats. Mary Gallagher, Jacqueline Kennedy’s personal secretary, took Tom in, but unfortunately he passed away a year and a half later. Tom Kitten spent the shortest time at the White House, compared to other cats on this list.

Gerald Ford (1974-1977)

The White House hadn’t had a Siamese cat since Rutherford B. Hayes was president, but all that changed when the Ford family took up residence. Gerald and Betty Ford gave their daughter Susan the striking Siamese cat as an Easter present. The cat was named Shan Shein after a town in China the Fords visited. Shan seemed to prefer women over men, with the exception of President Ford himself. She avoided the family dog whenever she could and would hide under Susan’s bed when she felt scared. When the family went on a vacation to Vail, Colorado, Shan showed her displeasure at being left behind by biting Susan and Betty on their legs. Eventually, Shan was declawed to prevent her from scratching people and furniture.

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

President Carter’s daughter Amy had a Siamese cat named Misty Malarky Ying Yang. Misty, a male, was playful, affectionate, and intelligent, often sitting with Amy during her violin lessons, meowing along to the music. The feline devoted much of his time to Amy, playing and sleeping in her dollhouse and sitting on her lap while she was being interviewed about a civil disobedience arrest. Misty preferred quiet comfort to fancy social events and was thrilled when she would get steak and seafood from the White House kitchen.

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

The Reagans, who were known for their love of dogs and horses, didn’t keep any cats at the White House, but they did have two tortoiseshell cats at their ranch near Santa Barbara, California. The two stray kitties were named Cleo and Sara, and they lived at Rancho del Cielo, the vacation home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. There isn’t much known about the kittens, but it seems they lived a quiet and happy life on the ranch.

Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

President Clinton had the most famous cat on this list, a black-and-white domestic shorthair named Socks. The personable kitty was adopted by the Clintons in 1991, when he decided to jump into Chelsea Clinton’s arms as she was leaving her piano teacher’s house. His name came from his white paws and also from the Beverly Cleary book Socks. During his years at the White House, the photogenic cat became a hit with the White House photographers, who would follow him around snapping pictures. Socks became a cultural icon. An episode of the television show Murphy Brown centered on the main character accidentally cat-napping the good-natured feline from the White House. Hillary Clinton brought him with her when she visited schools and hospitals. There was even a book and a song written about him. He was a beloved member of the family until the Clintons left the White House, leaving Socks to live with Bill Clinton’s secretary, Betty Currie. Socks lived with Betty and her husband in Maryland. In late 2008, Socks’ health began to fail, and he developed cancer of the jaw. In early 2009, he was put to sleep at the age of 20. He brought joy to the Clintons and everyone who knew him and was missed by all.

George W. Bush (2001-2009)

The Bush family's cat was a black American Shorthair named India. She was adopted in late 1991 when the Bush twins, Barbara and Jenna, were nine years old. At the time, George W. Bush owned the Texas Rangers, so Barbara decided to name the kitty after the baseball team’s star player, Ruben “El Indio” Sierra. India lived with the Bushes in the Texas Governor's Mansion and the White House. She was an elusive creature, often overshadowed by the family's Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, but seen in the “Barneycam” videos. Her nickname was "Willie," and she was a bit of a bookworm, preferring to hang out in the White House library. It was reported that her favorite book was If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, and she loved tuna-flavored cat treats. India passed away at the age of 18, weeks before the Bushes moved out of the White House. She was a beloved member of the family and missed by all who knew her. In addition to India, the Bush family had two other cats, Ernie and Cowboy, but they never lived in the White House.

Joseph Biden (2021-2025)

The Bidens made a campaign promise to adopt a cat into their family. During a 2020 campaign speech at a farm in Western Pennsylvania, Joe Biden’s wife Jill met a farm cat that she instantly bonded with. The sweet tabby was living with a foster family, but Jill became so attached to the feline that she knew she had to adopt her. The Bidens officially adopted Willow (named after Jill’s hometown of Willow Grove, PA) in 2021, but she couldn’t live with the family until January of 2022 because of biting issues with the family dogs. Willow made herself at home in the White House and enjoyed sleeping on top of Joe’s head during the night.