Barney Cam II: Presidential Pooch Is Back Online

Maryann Mott
for National Geographic News

December 24, 2003

In a triumphant return, Presidential pooch Barney's sequel to last
year's blockbuster can now be seen on the Internet.

In his debut video, released in December 2002, President Bush's Scottish terrier took Internet visitors on a virtual tour of the White House to show off the holiday decorations. The four-minute video brought a reported 24 million visitors to the White House Web site the first day it appeared.

Barney Cam II: Barney Reloaded, has a "more complicated" plot and is "rich with drama and humor," according to the White House. This year's video follows Barney as he works to prepare the White House for the Christmas season. President Bush and senior Presidential advisors have supporting roles. The indications are that the sequel starring the First Pooch is another winner with Web viewers.

Over the years, some 400 pets have called the White House home, ranging from bear cubs, snakes, and a hyena, to cats and cows.

But it's a dog's world, and Barney is just one in a long line of presidential pooches to provide love, companionship, and image enhancement to a president.

Dogs as Image Enhancers

Herbert Hoover's presidential campaign of 1928 demonstrates the power of a pooch. Shy with strangers and uncomfortable in front of large crowds, Hoover appeared cold and distant to the public. To counter the image, advisors suggested he get a canine companion.

Hoover adopted a large German shepherd named King Tut, and an autographed photograph of Hoover holding the dog's front paws was sent to thousands of voters around the country. The warm and fuzzy campaign worked; Hoover became the 31st president of the United States.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's dog, Fala, is credited with contributing significantly to FDR's win in 1944.

Fala accompanied the president on a trip to Alaska's Aleutian Islands in 1944 and was inadvertently left behind. The President ordered the destroyer he was traveling on to turn around and go back for the black Scottish terrier.

Upon hearing of the incident, Republicans howled about wasting taxpayer dollars. Roosevelt responded to the criticism in a speech to the Teamster's Union during his campaign for a fourth term. "I don't resent the attack, and my family doesn't resent the attack, but Fala does resent the attack. His Scotch soul was furious," he said.

"The teamsters just roared with laughter," said Ron Elmore, associate dean of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University, who has researched presidential pets. "In fact, in Eleanor Roosevelt's memoirs, she said that she really thought that speech is what turned the whole election around."

Fala received so much fan mail a secretary had to be hired.

In 1952, a little black and white cocker spaniel helped pull then-Vice Presidential hopeful Richard Nixon through a scandal in which he was accused of using U.S. $18,000 of supporters' money for personal use. In his famous Checkers speech, Nixon told listeners the only gift he'd accepted was a spaniel from a supporter in Texas.

"And our little girl Tricia, the six-year-old, named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it," he concluded.

The public loved the Checkers reference and Nixon secured the nomination.

Howls of Disapproval

Just as a pet can increase a politician's approval ratings, so too can it hurt.

In 1947, a supporter presented Harry S. Truman and family with a blond cocker spaniel named Feller for Christmas. Truman was widely accused of being "anti-canine" when it was reported that he gave the puppy to the White House physician.

Truman isn't the only president to incur the wrath of dog lovers.

Lyndon B. Johnson was lambasted when he picked his beagles up by their long floppy ears during a 1964 photo session on the White House lawn. The image—a sort of prequel of Michael Jackson dangling his son over a balcony—appeared in newspapers across the country and brought down a deluge of bad publicity that worried Johnson.

"I've read some interactions between Johnson and Hubert Humphrey where they were talking about how negative the photos were and how they were going to affect Johnson's political career," said Elmore.

Other presidential pet aficionados argue that a canine companion may be essential to a president.

Roy Rowan, co-author of First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Best Friends, cites Woodrow Wilson as a dog-less example. When, at the end of World War I, the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles, which proposed the establishment of a League of Nations, Wilson went on a cross-country tour to drum up support. Exhausted, the president suffered a stroke.

"Doctors have long maintained that the simple act of petting a dog can reduce stress and lower high blood pressure—the problems that brought on Wilson's stroke," said Rowan.