A Twitter user named Jessy Han has revealed a strange coincidence between the pets of current US President Joe Biden and 32nd US President Franklin Roosevelt, in what amounts to a case of history repeating itself.
Franklin Roosevelt’s pet dog was a German Shepherd, just like Joe Biden’s. Roosevelt’s dog was named Major, just like one of Biden’s German Shepherds. The most baffling part is that both dogs have been involved in biting incidents at the White House, only that the incidents happened 88 years apart.
This revelation comes in the wake of a report that Major Biden was involved in a second biting incident at the White House on Tuesday, March 30th, 2021. The biting incident happened less than two weeks after President Biden’s dogs returned to the White House after having been sent home to Delaware because of another biting incident involving Major, the three year old German Shepherd who was rescued from the Delaware Humane
Major, The German Shepherd In 1933
April 29, 1933 — President Roosevelt’s German Shepherd Major bites Senator Hattie Caraway of Arkansas. See the news snippethere.
— Han, J. (2021, Apr. 03). Major and Major: 2 presidential dogs with 1 story. Denver7 News, The Denver Channel. https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/major-and-major-2-presidential-dogs-with-1-story
Following this report of a second biting incident involving Major Biden, Jessy Han sent out a thread of tweets showing that Major Biden was not the first German Shepherd named Major to cause the ruckus at the White House.
The first tweet by Jessy Han shows the image of a New York Times article written on April 29th, 1933, citing an incident where Roosevelt’s dog, Major, bit Arkansas senator Hattie Caraway during a White House party thrown by Mrs. Roosevelt. Just like Major Biden, Major Roosevelt’s first biting incident at the White House came about a month after Roosevelt’s inauguration.
Jessy Han follows up with an image showing another New York Times article published on August 30th, 1933, which reports another case where Major Roosevelt was involved in a biting incident with Washington lawyer Harry Johnson. The Washington lawyer was trying to pet the dog by reaching through the White House fence when Major bit him.
Recounting Incidents With Presidential Pets
Oui oui: French President Macron’s dog Nemo caught on tape peeing on ornate fireplace at Elysee Palace https://t.co/FWPcFLbk1r pic.twitter.com/Zon6qv2y8k
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 23, 2017
At around the same time, in August 1933, Major Roosevelt was also involved in another international incident when he attacked British Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald. According to the Presidential Pet Museum, Major Roosevelt totally ripped off the British prime minister’s pants, and the White House was forced to find replacement pants for the premier to wear while leaving the White House.
After the biting incidents, Major Roosevelt was banished to the President’s home in Hyde Park, New York, just like Biden’s dogs Champ and Major were banished to the President’s Delaware home following Major Biden’s first biting incident.
Presidents Biden’s and Roosevelt’s canine companions are not the only dogs owned by world leaders who have been involved in mischievous incidents. French President Emmanuel Macron’s dog, Nemo, was in 2017 caught on tape doing his potty business in the Elysee Palace’s fireplace while the President was in a meeting with junior ministers.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s Scottish Terrier, Meggie, had also once involved in an incident where she bit a newspaper correspondent in the face during an interview with the First Lady.
