Phil Edwards
is a senior producer for the Vox video team.
The White House used to be a wild place, teeming with everything from bears to alligators, even in the 20th century:
Presidential pets used to be quite the hassle. (Phil Edwards/Vox)
What to make of these unusual Presidential pets? Calvin Coolidge's menagerie might be the most instructive — it was one of the last White Houses to serve as home to many wild things. Coolidge received a wide range of pets as diplomatic gifts — including a wallaby — but he donated most of them to the National Zoo.
If you want to geek out on historic pets, the Presidential Pet Museum has an exhaustive and well-researched catalog of every one. It's a reminder that things have changed a lot.
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