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R.I.P. Presidential Pup Barney: Times Managing Editor Jimmy Orr, a staffer in George W. Bush’s White House, remembers the creation of the “Barney Cam.”
People liked our videos. People loved Barney. Why not strap a video camera to the first dog’s head, chase him through the White House so viewers can see the Christmas decorations from his vantage point, and stream it over the Internet?
Read more about Orr’s experiences in the Oval Office, and the passing of the 12-year-old Barney, here.
(Photo via Eric Draper / White House)
(via ourpresidents)
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Former First Dog Barney Bush Passes Away At Age 12
Former First Dog Barney Bush — a black Scottish terrier known for chasing golf balls and taking America on video tours of the White House — has passed away after a battle with lymphoma. He was 12.
Former President George W. Bush announced on Friday the passing of the “little fellow,” saying in a news release that “after twelve and a half years of life, his body could not fight off the illness.”
“Barney was by my side during our eight years in the White House,” said Bush, who also released Friday an oil painting he did of Barney (Image above). “He never discussed politics and was always a faithful friend. Laura and I will miss our pal.” (Dallas Morning News Trail Blazers Blog)
White House photo by Kimberlee Hewitt
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Daisy Suckley plays with Fala in FDR’s White House Study, December 20, 1941. (FDR Presidential Library & Museum)
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Fala photographing the photographers at the White House, Washington, D.C. April 7, 1942.
Also the cutest thing I have ever seen.
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Fala: The White House, from the FDR Presidential Library (via Leanne Michelle, Flickr)
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VIDEO: FDR and Fala at the White House, 1943
“Here is one chap who usually gets his supper direct from the hand of the president…”
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Scottish terrier Fala walking on White House lawn in 1941. (LIFE)
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British Prime Minister Winston Churchill demonstrating the easy zipper on his famous “siren suit” for unseen photographers while sitting in chair on the White House lawn at dusk as young Diana Hopkins, the daughter of White House aide Harry Hopkins, struggles to keep FDR’s dog Fala in the pic. (LIFE, 1942)
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Fala on Pearl Harbor Day
While visiting her mother’s cousins, Franklin and Eleanor, in the White House on December 7, 1941, she spent the afternoon teaching the President’s dog, Fala, to roll over. She went on to raise and train dogs to assist deaf persons, helping to found the agency which coordinates such efforts, Assistance Dogs International. — New York Times obituary of Laura Delano Adams Eastman, Sept. 28, 2005
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Fala’s 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 1646
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VIDEO: See Fala play on the White House lawn (7:30)
FDR Presidential Library, Video 215, FDR and Roosevelt Family, 1944-1945:
John Boettiger home movie 13 mins. (310 ft), silent, color/b & w, 16mm FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt at Hyde Park, NY with Winston Churchill and Clementine Churchill; Edward, Duke of Windsor and Adm. W illiam Leahy. Anna Roosevelt, John Boettiger, John R. Boettiger, Curtis Roosevelt, Eleanor Seagraves on board boat, at Mercer Island, Hyde Park and White House. Short scene of Fala playing on White House lawn. Donated by John Boettiger, Eleanor Seagraves and Curtis Roosevelt. Archival footage from the FDR Presidential Library.
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Arguably history’s best known presidential pet was Fala, a Scottish terrier given to Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 by his distant cousin Margaret Suckley. Fala appeared in political cartoons, news articles, movie shorts, and even FDR’s campaign speeches. Secret Service agents called Fala “The Informer” because, during secret wartime presidential trips, the dog was instantly recognized while out on his walks. But this celebrity was put to good use in 1941 when Fala was named national president of Barkers for Britain. (National Archives)
Photo: FDR and Fala in the White House Oval Study, December 20, 1941.
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A presidential bodyguard plays with FDR’s Scottish terrier, Fala. (LIFE)
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Biography of Fala, the Scottish Terrier
Fala was born on April 7, 1940 and given to the President by Mrs. Augustus G. Kellog of Westport, Connecticut through Franklin Roosevelt’s cousin, Margaret “Daisy” Suckley. At first his name was Big Boy. Franklin renamed him ‘Murray the Outlaw of Falahill’ after a Scottish ancestor. His nickname became Fala. Before Fala went to the White House, Daisy taught Fala how to behave and do tricks. He could sit up, rollover, and jump.
Fala went to live in the White House in Washington, DC on November 10, 1940. He spent most of his time there. However, time was also spent at the houses in Hyde Park and Warm Springs, Georgia. While at Hyde Park, Fala often rode in FDR’s car, a Ford, which FDR drove with special hand controls because of his paralysis from polio.
Every morning Fala had a bone that was brought up on the President’s breakfast tray. Fala got a full dinner every night. Throughout the day, Fala would beg for food from the White House staff. He was so cute that the staff could not resist feeding him and he became sick. The President then directed the staff not to feed him extra food. At night, he slept in a special chair at the foot of the President’s bed.
Fala loved to travel with the President on long and short trips by train, car, or boat. As the nearly constant companion of the President, Fala met many famous visitors and entertained them with the tricks he had learned as a puppy. His most impressive trick was curling his lip into a smile. (Read More)
Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
