Fala
Fala was a Scotch Terrier owned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt and for many years one of the most famous dogs in the world. The press of the day wrote articles describing Fala and he appeared in newsreel footage almost as often as the President, since Roosevelt like to have him nearby. Fala traveled in the Presidential airplane, in FDRs day not known as Air Force One by instead dubbed by the President The Sacred Cow, the Presidential Railcar known as the Ferdinand Magellan, in limousines, and aboard US Navy ships when they carried the President on both official business and vacations.
Fala’s full name was Murray the Outlaw of Falahill. He was a present to Roosevelt from a cousin. FDR was already living in the White House when Fala was given to him, and he let the dog have the run of the house, other than the White House kitchens. Roosevelt insisted that the dog be fed by no one but him. Roosevelt liked to have a cocktail hour in the White House, often entertaining aids or lower level workers as a means of rewarding them, during which the President liked to mix the drinks himself with Fala sitting beside his chair.
During the Second World War Winston Churchill was a frequent visitor to the White House, often staying on as a houseguest rather than residing at the British Embassy. Churchill was fond of animals and evidently got along quite well with Fala, despite the Scotties proclivity for getting underfoot. Roosevelt was often blind to this, as he moved about the White House in a wheelchair.
In 1944 Republicans in Congress helped spread a rumor that Roosevelt had dispatched a US Navy destroyer to an island in the Aleutians to pick up Fala after the dog had been inadvertently left there during an inspection trip. Roosevelt responded with a speech which relied on the stereotype of Scottish penury by telling the public that Fala was infuriated to his Scottish soul over such a waste of money. Today such a speech would be lambasted from all sides, but for FDR it was the end of the issue and the rumor.
Fala logged several firsts as regards White House pets. He was probably the first to fly with the President, certainly the first to meet the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and the first to be the subject of a Presidential address. He is also the first Presidential pet to leave the country with his master, traveling to both Argentia Bay and Monterrey, Mexico with Roosevelt. He is memorialized with his master at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington DC.