Dogs in Politics Day ~
September 23rd is Dogs In Politics Day. Um, what? Well, actually the more I think about it, some of the cute doggies I know might make better politicians than the geezery, set in their ways, old men and women that we have now. 😉 I kid. Seriously, though, Dogs in Politics Day is not a day set aside to celebrate dogs that we hope will one day be President {darn it}, but to remember the dogs that belonged or still belong to our Presidents.
National Dogs In Politics Day
This day also goes by Checkers Day {named after Richard Nixon’s doggy, Checkers, obviously}. Basically Richard Nixon was doing what he did best, covering his butt, and he was having to come clean about some gifts he had received while he was on the campaign trail with Eisenhower. At the time, Richard Nixon was the vice-presidential candidate and he allegedly received gifts that he shouldn’t have. One gift he refused to give back, though, was Checkers – a little fluff ball he received from a Texas fan {see pic above}. I don’t blame him. They would have had to pry Checkers out of my cold dead hands, too. I mean, look at that face!
Nixon was accused of using part of an $18,000 campaign fund for personal use. So, he addressed the American people in a speech that would come to be known as the Checkers Speech. Above is an exerpt of Nixon’s “Checkers Speech” if you would like to check it out. Go to that YouTube channel if you would like to see the speech in it’s entirety.
Check Out Another Political Dog: Huckabee
Check out this little darling that I found on Flickr named Huckabee!
Huckabee obviously really likes Obama, and the camera, wouldn’t you agree? And I <3 Huckabee! Wasn't that a movie? ;)
There were alot of white house dogs I would say my favorite was probably Liberty who was Gerald Ford’s family’s dog -she had a litter of puppies.
I didn’t know about Dogs in Politics Day…how funny and cute! I hadn’t really thought about it, but you are right dogs probably make the presidency. 🙂 Nixon was very smart in getting a cute dog – it takes some…some…of the focus away. Maybe Huckabee should run in the next election. 🙂
Haha! I love your point about Nixon! Yes, the dog was an excellent distraction!
I would probably vote for Huckabee!
I love them all…. too hard to pick just one 🙂 And I have to say, they couldn’t do a worse job of running our country (or state), then a lot of the politicians…… 🙂
I choose Ronald Reagan’s dog, Lucky.
I would choose Buddy, Bill Clinton’s chocolate Labrador retriever. Unfortunately, Buddy was killed by a car outside his home in New York. Poor Buddy!
Awww…poor Buddy. 🙁
I like Lucky too
I liked Millie the springer spaniel that George and Barbara had – she even authored a book lol.
Is this a joke? It’s almost too easy! I don’t know which presidents owned what. I like cocker spaniels.