Silkworms, Tiger Cubs and Fighting Cocks 1789 to Present
With the 2012 presidential campaign winding down and election eve looming, we are all by now (save perhaps those mysterious remaining undecided voters) acquainted with the issues facing our country: jobs (the wonks suggest we need more of them), balancing the budget, foreign policy, immigration reform, healthcare reform, marriage (the pundits suggest we need less of them), Supreme Court appointments, energy policy, education and the very role of government.
But there has been one very important issue that has not received as much as attention as it deserves in either the “liberal-biased media” or “the right wing echo chamber” AKA “the friends of Fox & Friends,” and that is the all-important issue of which direction this country will go in selecting its next Presidential Pet. Will it be another four years of freewheeling “Bo the Portuguese Water Dog”? Or will we “Take A New Path Of Bold, Aggressive Change” and consider an American Bison, Boar, Bush Baby, Chimpanzee, Cobra, Cormorant, Dolphin, Echidna, Emu, Flamingo, Gnat, Hedgehog, Hyena, Jackal, Jellyfish, Lapwing, Lemur, Llama, Loris, Mallard, Narwhal, Oryx, Ostrich, Partridge, Platypus, Reindeer, Sand Dollar, Sardine, Shrew, Stinkbug, Termite, Vulture, Walrus, Woodpecker, Wren or perhaps a Yak for our nation’s new “First Pet.”
Such strangeness has happened before. Surfing the historical record, I discovered John Quincy Adams’ “First Silkworm,” Martin Van Buren’s “First Tiger Cub,” Andrew Jackson’s “First Fighting Cock,” Andrew Johnson’s “First White Mouse,” Grover Cleveland’s “First Mockingbirds,” Benjamin Harrison’s “First Opossum,” Theodore Roosevelt’s “First Garter Snake,” Woodrow Wilson’s “First Ram,” Calvin Coolidge’s “First Pygmy Hippo,” Herbert Hoover’s “First Crocodile” and George W. Bush’s “First Longhorn.”
And once our leadership has decided on a creature worthy of such a station, there will always be the name to consider. So, we have taken this opportunity to provide the next President with some historical context. Happy naming. [Read more…] about United States Presidential Pet Names 1789 to Present