Abraham Lincoln and Cats – Presidents & Pets

Public Domain, Link

When asked if her husband had any hobbies, Mary Todd Lincoln reportedly said, “cats”. President Lincoln welcomed stray cats to the White House. During the darkest days of the Civil War, the company of his cats helped sustain him. He rescued three orphaned kittens at General Grant’s headquarters in Virginia. So the next time you do something nice for a cat, you are following in the footsteps of one of the greatest American Presidents.

By Nicolas Suzor from Brisbane, Australia – Kittens!
Uploaded by Kaldari, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Of course Lincoln wasn’t the only President who loved his pets. President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge kept cats, dogs, and even a pet raccoon. Grace Coolidge posed for her official portrait with her dog. Should Presidential families include their pets in portraits more often?

By Howard Chandler Christy – Whitehousehistory.org, Public Domain, Link