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Even During WWII, Dogs Mattered in Campaigns
America faced challenges even more urgent in 1944, when President Roosevelt was running for re-election against his Republican opponent Thomas Dewey.
President Roosevelt’s dog was a Scottish Terrier that he named Murray the Outlaw of Falahill, and nicknamed Fala. The rumor at the time, spread by Republicans, was that the dog had accidentally been left on one of the Aleutian islands during a presidential visit — and that Roosevelt had ordered a Navy destroyer to retrieve the stranded pooch at great expense to the treasury.
On September 23, 1944, Roosevelt immortalized the kerfuffle by addressing it during a nationally broadcast radio speech:These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family don’t resent attacks — but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I’d left him behind on an Aleutian island and had sent a destroyer back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Scotch soul was furious. (laughter) He has not been the same dog since.(laughter) I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog!Dewey foolishly tried to respond with a point by point rebuttal of Roosevelt’s speech, prompting the Democratic National Committee to put out a statement declaring the election “between Roosevelt’s dog and Dewey’s goat,” and Roosevelt himself wrote in a private letter soon after, “I deliberately wrote out a speech with the objective in mind of making Governor Dewey angry. It worked.” (The Atlantic)
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A President’s Best Friend
An editorial from Scripps-Howard News Service
Beside a statue of President Franklin Roosevelt at his newly dedicated memorial In Washington is a bronze image of FDR’s Scottish terrier Fala. This is fitting. Man and dog were virtually inseparable in life, and in public memory they should remain so.
Bred to pull foxes and other uncooperative critters from their underground lairs, the Scottish terrier has been called “a big dog in a small package.” Maybe its inspirational pluck explains why several crisis-tested presidents have owned one or more. Other Scottie-struck chief executives include Teddy Roosevelt (Jessie), Dwight Eisenhower (Telek and Caacie) and Ronald Reagan (Scotch and Soda). Currently, Gov. Christine Whitman, R-N.J., owns three. Political oddsmakers, take note
Further fanciers included Jackie Kennedy, Charles Lindbergh and author E.B. White, who, failing to find a sitter, took his dog to church on his wedding day.
Yet Fala remains the most famous Scottie, and justly. FDR conducted calming fireside chats, but with the weight of Depression and war on his shoulders, there must have been plenty of lonely fireside ruminations, too. Perhaps the destruction of Hitler and the rescue of the economy went more smoothly because in the desperate hours their architect had a shaggy head to rub. Did Fala realize his special place? Hard to say. For any Scotties makes any owner feel — presidential. — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 6, 1997
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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Fala Still In The News
References to Fala continue to be found in the modern media. The latest is this Businessweek story about pets in presidential politics (think President Obama’s Portuguese water dog Bo and Mitt Romney’s former car-roof-riding pet Seamus).
The magazine’s Julianna Goldman writes:
Dogs have played a significant role in presidential culture, helping to humanize the nation’s top executive for people by making him seem more like themselves or their neighbors. They also serve as best buds: former President Harry Truman, who had Feller, a cocker spaniel, stated: “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
George H.W. Bush’s English springer spaniel, Millie, was the first presidential pet to write a book. Richard Nixon had King Timahoe, an Irish setter. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had Fala, a Scottish terrier he defended against a Republican attack in the 1944 “Fala Speech,” saying: “These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or on my wife or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala.”
“It creates the picture of the family man who has a pet and is kind and gentle,” said Robert Dallek, a presidential historian. “The contrast being made is that Romney is a rather stiff-back, harsh character, and he made the dog ride on the roof of his car.”
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FDR and Fala, out for a ride, from the FDR Presidential Library (via Leanne Michelle, Flickr)
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New Yorker senior editor Amy Davidson’s March 8, 2012, blog post “Close Read: What Presidents Talk About When They Talk About Dogs” mentions this very Tumblr. (We’re flattered!) The peg is a New York Times column about Mitt Romney’s decision to put his dog Seamus on top of his family’s station wagon for a 12-hour ride in 1983. Davidson also recounts Richard Nixon’s famous “Checkers speech” and LBJ’s habit of lifting his beagles up by their ears.
But, naturally, Davidson’s recounting of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Fala Speech” is what perked up our ears.
Roosevelt’s speech on Fala had been Nixon’s inspiration, and was, in fact, genuinely inspiring. Fala was a Scottish Terrier. He went everywhere with F.D.R.—inspected troops, played with Churchill. (There is a Fala Tumblr with that and much more.) A story appeared saying that he had been left behind in the Aleutian Islands by mistake, and a destroyer had been sent to pick him up; whether he was strapped to the top of said destroyer is not clear. Roosevelt’s response was inimitable.
One learns a couple of things. Roosevelt was charming, his comedic timing was perfect, and he could be unrelenting, even merciless, with both. He spoke about how it all seemed to Fala; he could speak that way about anyone, from any perspective. In this case, he said of Fala, “his Scotch soul was furious”:
Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family don’t resent attacks—but Fala does resent them.
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All of the President’s Pets
Fala’s story continues to be told.
“You spend as much time in the White House as FDR did, you’re going to acquire a fair number of pets – but Roosevelt didn’t have an outlandish number. He seemed to favor Scotties like Fala and Meggie, but he also had bigger dogs like Majora (German Shepherd), Tiny (Old English Sheepdog), President (Great Dane), and Blaze (Bull Mastiff). Fala, his constant companion in Roosevelt’s later years, was named for one of Roosevelt’s own Scottish ancestors, ‘Murray the Outlaw of Falahill.’ Fala went everywhere with his president – including ships, trains, and planes – and his need to be walked during long trips often tipped civilians to the president’s presence, which led the Secret Service to code-name Fala ‘the Informer.’” — Presidential pet stories, Shine from Yahoo
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Wag The Dog
A 1944 Word War II cartoon shows President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the gyrations of Scottish terrier Fala to Gen. Charles de Gaulle. FDR considered De Gaulle’s claim as the leader of France, at a time when the majority of its land was under German control, to be overstated and akin to the tail wagging the dog. — The Washington Post via the White House Historical Association
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt pets his companion, Fala. (Animal Planet)
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![The Most Photographed Dog In The World
It was Franklin Roosevelt’s Fala, a Scottie, who epitomized the title of first dog. Called the “most photographed dog in the world,” Fala was [Franklin Roosevelt]’s constant companion, traveling all over the globe with the president. This “tail-wagging busybody” is said to have won FDR a million votes due to the famous “Fala” speech in the 1944 campaign. Responding to Republican attacks, including reports he sent a destroyer to the Aleutians to retrieve the dog, Roosevelt said, “I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself … but I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog.” Fala further enhanced Roosevelt’s popularity when he fathered two pups, Meggy and Peggy. — The Washington Post, 1989](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxlow97K511qlqojoo1_400.jpg)
The Most Photographed Dog In The World
It was Franklin Roosevelt’s Fala, a Scottie, who epitomized the title of first dog. Called the “most photographed dog in the world,” Fala was [Franklin Roosevelt]’s constant companion, traveling all over the globe with the president. This “tail-wagging busybody” is said to have won FDR a million votes due to the famous “Fala” speech in the 1944 campaign. Responding to Republican attacks, including reports he sent a destroyer to the Aleutians to retrieve the dog, Roosevelt said, “I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself … but I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog.” Fala further enhanced Roosevelt’s popularity when he fathered two pups, Meggy and Peggy. — The Washington Post, 1989
![The Most Photographed Dog In The World
It was Franklin Roosevelt’s Fala, a Scottie, who epitomized the title of first dog. Called the “most photographed dog in the world,” Fala was [Franklin Roosevelt]’s constant companion, traveling all over the globe with the president. This “tail-wagging busybody” is said to have won FDR a million votes due to the famous “Fala” speech in the 1944 campaign. Responding to Republican attacks, including reports he sent a destroyer to the Aleutians to retrieve the dog, Roosevelt said, “I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself … but I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog.” Fala further enhanced Roosevelt’s popularity when he fathered two pups, Meggy and Peggy. — The Washington Post, 1989](http://cache2.artprintimages.com/p/LRG/37/3727/WBRAF00Z/art-print/us-president-franklin-d-roosevelt-and-his-dog-fala-early-1940s.jpg)
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Fala walks with mourners at President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s funeral in 1945. (LIFE)
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Fala, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s dog, seen during the funeral procession for the President, Warm Springs, Georgia, April 12, 1945.
(LIFE)
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Is This Any Way To Hold A Celebrity?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt lifts his dog Fala as he prepares to motor from his special train to the Yacht Potomac at New London, Conn., Aug. 3, 1941, at the beginning of a vacation voyage. (AP Photo / Washington Times)
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor with Meggie 1933. Meggie famously bit Senator Hattie Caraway.
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Fala’s Leash, Collar, Blanket, and Navy Coat
Beloved Roosevelt family dog and famous throughout the world, Fala (1940-1952) lived with Eleanor at Val-Kill after FDR’s death in 1945.
Dog Collar
Silver tag is engraved with “FALA / THE WHITE HOUSE”
Leather, silver. L 45.7, W 2.3 cm.
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historical Site, HOFR 1646Leash
Braided leather; L 99, W 1.5 cm.
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historical Site, HOFR 1647Blanket
Navajo
Wool; H 85.7, W 42 cm.
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historical Site, HOFR 1643Dog Coat
Wool; H. 39.3, L. 10.8, W. 19 cm.
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historical Site, HOFR 1644
