Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-27gpq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T23:16:08.540Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Unleashing Presidential Power: The Politics of Pets in the White House

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2012

Forrest Maltzman
Affiliation:
The George Washington University
James H. Lebovic
Affiliation:
The George Washington University
Elizabeth N. Saunders
Affiliation:
The George Washington University
Emma Furth
Affiliation:
Reed College

Abstract

In this article, we use a multimethod approach to shed light on the strategic use of presidential pets. We draw on primary source materials to demonstrate that pets are an important power center in the White House. Then we turn to presidents' strategic use of their pets in public. We present a theoretical framework and statistical evidence to explore the conditions under which presidents are most likely to trot out their four-legged friends. We show that presidents carefully gauge the best and worst times to conduct a dog and pony show. In times of war or scandal, dogs are welcome public companions, but not so in periods of economic hardship.

Type
Spotlight
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allison, Graham, and Zelikow, Philip. 1999. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, 2nd ed. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Axelrod, David. 2012. “How Loving Owners Transport Their Dogs.” January 30. Twitter. Available at http://twitter.com/#!/davidaxelrod/status/164083085799981057 [accessed on 3/18/12].Google Scholar
Bush, C. Fred. 1984. C. Fred's Story: A Dog's Life. Ed. (slightly) by Barbara Bush. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. 1998. Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets. New York: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Collins, Gail. 2007. “Haunted by Seamus.” New York Times, August 4.Google Scholar
Davidson, Amy. 2012. “What Presidents Talk About When They Talk About Dogs.” New Yorker “Close Read” Blog, March 8, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/03/what-presidents-talk-about-when-they-talk-about-dogs.html.Google Scholar
Fravel, M. Taylor. 2010. “The Limits of Diversion: Rethinking Internal and External Conflict.” Security Studies 19 (2): 307–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leibovich, Mark. 2012. “Obama Seizes Chance to Score as an Everyman.” New York Times, March 22.Google Scholar
Millie. 1990. Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush. New York: William Morrow.Google Scholar
Mutz, Diana C. 2010. “The Dog that Didn't Bark: The Role of Canines in the 2008 Campaign.” PS: Political Science and Politics 43 (4): 707–12.Google Scholar
Neustadt, Richard E. 1991. Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
New York Times. 2001. “As Peace Process Fails, First Cat Prepares for Exile.”Google Scholar
Roosevelt, Eleanor. 1949. This I Remember. New York: Harper & Brothers.Google Scholar
Roosevelt, Franklin D. 1944. Address at a Union Dinner, Washington, DC, September 23. Available at Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16563.Google Scholar
Socks (a.k.a. Michael O'Donoghue, and J.C. Suares). 1993. Socks Goes to Washington: The Diary of America's First Cat. Charlottesville, VA: Thomasson-Grant.Google Scholar
Splash (a.k.a. Edward M. Kennedy). 2006. My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington, D.C. New York: Scholastic.Google Scholar
Thompson, Krissah. 2012. “First Family is Front and Center in Campaign Ad.” Washington Post, February 21.Google Scholar