Opinion

‘If you want a friend in Washington,” Harry Truman advised, “get a dog.” And so the presidents have done. Some presidential pooches have been direct parties to history; others have had behind-the-scenes duties as children’s pets and guard dogs. They all serve their country in the diplomatic mission of humanizing the nation’s top dog.

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1) Which president’s dog was the first to be photographed?

A. James Buchanan’s Newfoundland, Lara

B. Abraham Lincoln’s mutt, Fido

C. Benjamin Harrison’s collie, Dash

2) Which president disliked dogs until he brought back a sheepdog from France?

A. Dwight Eisenhower

B. John Kennedy

C. Thomas Jefferson

3) Which president’s dog attended the signing of the Atlantic Charter?

A. Franklin Roosevelt’s

Scottish terrier, Fala

B. Theodore Roosevelt’s

St. Bernard, Rollo

C. Gerald Ford’s golden retriever, Liberty

4) Which president posed with his police dog, King Tut, for his official campaign picture?

A. Woodrow Wilson

B. Herbert Hoover

C. George W. Bush

5) Which president sang duets in the Oval Office with his mutt, Yuki?

A. Lyndon Johnson

B. Howard Taft

C. Bill Clinton

6) Which president’s dog wrote an autobiography that outsold his?

A. George H.W. Bush’s

springer spaniel, Millie

B. Ronald Reagan’s Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Rex

C. Rutherford Hayes’ cocker spaniel, Dot

7) Which president was given a Russian dog to reduce Cold War tensions?

A. Richard Nixon

B. Ronald Reagan

C. John Kennedy

8) Which first lady dressed her dogs in bows and bonnets for the annual White House Easter egg roll?

A. Jacqueline Kennedy

B. Grace Coolidge

C. Barbara Bush

9) Which president warned White House staff members they would be fired if his son’s dog, Faithful, died?

A. Ulysses Grant

B. Andrew Johnson

C. Andrew Jackson

10) Which president’s dog bit a Reuters correspondent on the finger?

A. Richard Nixon’s Irish setter, King Timahoe

B. Barack Obama’s Portuguese water dog, Bo

C. George W. Bush’s Scottish terrier, Barney

11) Which president’s dog sat in on Cabinet meetings in his own hand-carved chair?

A. Warren Harding’s Airedale, Laddie Boy

B. Woodrow Wilson’s bull terrier, Bruce

C. Calvin Coolidge’s bulldog, Boston Beans

12) When asked where the first dog would sleep, which president said, “Not in my bed”?

A. John Kennedy

B. Lyndon Johnson

C. Barack Obama

13) Which president warned Congress of his stubbornness by naming his dog Veto?

A. James Garfield

B. John Adams

C. Harry Truman

Answers: 1) B; 2) C; 3) A;

4) B; 5) A; 6) A; 7) C; 8) B; 9) A; 10) C; 11) A; 12) C; 13) A