35. White House Sheep
It began in the spring of 1918, when President Woodrow Wilson was motoring around the countryside with a friend, and remarked that he would like to see some sheep at the White House. It sounds a bit weird now, but it was not that weird a century ago. Wilson and his wife wanted to be the model family for supporting the war effort, and indeed, over the next two years, wool sheared from the White House’s sheep would yield $52,000 for the American Red Cross at auction – a princely sum back then.
However, it was not all smooth sailing. As a Washington Post article reported on May 12th, 1918, just a few weeks into the sheep ranching experiment: “President Wilson is having no end of trouble with the flock of sheep he purchased recently to graze on the White House lawn“. The sheep were scared of the cars and trucks that had recently started to appear in the District of Colombia in increasing numbers. It was just the start of an ongoing sheep drama.