The Beagle Who Became the First, and Only

Lyndon Baines Johnson was sad. His Beagles, “Him” and “Her” were dead. Hoping to cheer him up, FBI head, J. Edgar Hoover, gifted the president a new Beagle whose registered name was Greeson’s Chum.  LBJ called him, “J. Edgar.”

When a family friend learned that J. Edgar (the dog) had some field talent, he borrowed the dog to enter the Chambersburg Beagle Club trial in September, 1966. The friend, an expert Beagler, put himself down as the handler, and listed “L. B. Johnson” as the owner thinking it would be unfair to the judges if they were known to be assessing the US President’s dog.

J. Edgar was awarded second place to became the first, and as far as we know, only White House dog to have a place in the AKC record books.

Photo of “Him” and “Her” appearing on the cover of Life Magazine

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