Possum at the Whitehouse

Donkeys Equal Democrats, Elephants Equal Republicans & Possums Equal President Hoover?  

So many great men have inhabited the White House since the founding of our nation, as well as some great animals too!  President Roosevelt’s love of animals was perhaps congenital, for his mother Sara sent postcards to her dogs when she was away from home.

However, one of the most exotic pets that called the White House its home was an opossum…

This story revolves around President Herbert Hoover, President from 1929 – 1933.  In fact, when Hoover initially ran for office his closest advisors feared he was too frigid to win public support, so in an effort to change his image a picture of Hoover and his dog, King Tut, were circulated in newspapers with literally thousands of autographed copies mailed to voters. This marketing technique paid off, as Vice President Dick Cheney would say, “Big time.”

Some of Hoover’s other canines included two fox terriers named Ben and Sonnie, Glen the Scotch collie, Yukon the Eskimo dog, Patrick the Irish wolfhound, Eaglehurst Gilette the setter, Pat the police dog, and Weejie the elkhound.  Weejie was so large that people peering through the White House fencing often mistook him for a pony.  

Although King Tut remained in the public eye, a tiny opossum found on the White House grounds by President Hoover makes a more interesting story.  President Hoover grew quite attached to the little opossum.  

Soon afterwards, a baseball team in Hyattsville, Maryland contacted the President and despite the fact that the Hyattsville-to-D.C. trek would have been very difficult for the little opossum, they were certain it was their missing mascot, Billy, so much in fact that they sent a delegation to the White House to identify the opossum.  The ‘John Doe opossum (aka Billy)’ hid in the kennels so identification was impossible for the delegation.  A note was left for President Hoover requesting the opossum, claiming otherwise their team might have bad luck befall them without their mascot to protect them.

President Hoover obliged.  The team reached the state championships that year.  I suppose this story gives new meaning to the song, “Oh where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy…..”

Reference:  Presidential Pets by Niall Kelly

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