For Presidents’ Day on Monday I paid tribute to George Washington’s love of dogs. Not wanting to play favorites to dogs, today I’m sharing Abraham Lincoln’s devotion to cats. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, he made the difficult decision to leave his beloved dog, Fido, in Illinois. He knew that the chaos of Washington would put undue stress on his canine companion, who did not like loud noises, nor would he appreciate the long train ride to Washington. Therefore despite missing him terribly, he left Fido in the care of family friends. Alright, so Lincoln was a bit of a helicopter dog dad. Not only did he leave detailed instructions on how Fido was to be treated, he even insisted that the family take their couch, so his dog could continue to have his favorite spot to sit in his new home. Knowing Lincoln had a kind heart for animals, Secretary of State William Seward gave him two kittens to keep him company in Washington, Tabby and Dixie. In fact, Lincoln was the first President known to have cats as pets in the White House.
Tabby and Dixie soon were enjoying the same doting treatment as Fido, which raised an eyebrow or two in the formal society of Washington. In fact Mary Todd Lincoln felt the need to rebuke her husband when he fed Tabby from the table during a formal dinner at the White House, calling his actions “shameful in front of their guests.” However, according to family tradition, Lincoln responded, “If the gold fork was good enough for former President James Buchanan, I think it is good enough for Tabby.”
Not only were they Lincoln’s dinner guests, these cats were often his closest confidants. Lincoln’s friend Caleb Carman recalled how the President would pick up one of the cats and “talk to it for half an hour at a time.” His Secretary of the Treasury Maunsell B. Field also noted in a letter, that Lincoln “was fond of dumb animals, especially cats. I have seen him fondle one for an hour.” Well Lincoln certainly disagreed with that assessment of animals being “dumb.” In fact, once when irritated by his Cabinet, it is rumored that Lincoln proclaimed, “Dixie is smarter than my whole cabinet! And furthermore she doesn’t talk back!”
His kindness towards cats also extended to strays. So much so that Mary Todd Lincoln called his penchant for bringing home stray cats as her husband’s “hobby.” A hobby that attracted notice when visiting General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia. According to the Abraham Lincoln Research Site, during this visit the President noticed three kittens who were meowing in distress. “When Abraham picked up one of the kittens and asked, ‘Where is your mother?’ A person standing nearby said, ‘The mother is dead.’ The president continued to pet the little kitten and said, ‘Then she can’t grieve as many a poor mother is grieving for a son lost in battle.’ Abraham picked up the other two kittens and now had all three in his lap. He stroked their fur and quietly told them, ‘Kitties, thank God you are cats, and can’t understand this terrible strife that is going on.’ The Chief Executive continued, ‘Poor little creatures, don’t cry; you’ll be taken good care of.’ He looked toward Colonel Bowers of Grant’s staff and said, ‘Colonel, I hope you will see that these poor little motherless waifs are given plenty of milk and treated kindly.’ Bowers promised that he would tell the cook to take good care of them.” Colonel Horace Porter later recalled, “‘He would wipe their eyes tenderly with his handkerchief, stroke their smooth coats, and listen to them purring their gratitude to him.’ Quite a sight it was, thought Porter, ‘at an army headquarters, upon the eve of a great military crisis in the nation’s history, to see the hand which had affixed the signature to the Emancipation Proclamation and had signed the commissions….from the general-in-chief to the lowest lieutenant, tenderly caressing three stray kittens.'”
In addition to cats, and a dog named Jip, the Lincoln family also welcomed rabbits, goats, and even a turkey as pets into the White House. For more information about President Abraham Lincoln’s love of animals, please visit the Presidential Pet Museum. To learn more about Lincoln’s beloved dog, Fido, visit Angel Chuck Billy’s post Abraham Lincoln: Devoted Dog Owner and Cat Person (February 20, 2017).
