Lyndon Baines Johnson was sad. His Beagles, “Him” and “Her” (see their photograph on the cover of LIFE magazine) 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 knew they were assessing the president’s dog. J. Edgar was awarded second place.
Several White House dogs have had AKC registration numbers: Herbert Hoover’s Collie, Bellhaven Behoover, AKC #666082, and his Irish Wolfhound, Cragwood Padraic, AKC #665207. President George W. Bush’s Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, were also AKC registered (Barney’s official AKC-registered name was Pontefract Barney W. Bush, and Miss Beazley’s AKC-registered name was Blackwatch Miss Beazley), but we don’t have numbers for them. Nor for either of the Obamas’ Portuguese Water Dog, Bo and Sunny, both of whom were AKC registered. Bo’s official AKC-registered name is Amigo’s New Hope (he was bred by Art and Martha Stern of Amigo Portuguese Water Dogs in Texas).
In fact, many presidential pets were purebred dogs, but they were not always formally registered. And except for the Beagle, J. Edgar, there is no evidence in available records that the aforementioned dogs achieved notable placements or records in AKC competitions, so, as far as we know, J. Edgar became the first, and only White House dog to have a place in the AKC record books.
Image by Anna Kumpan