Many people are surprised to learn this about any president, but a vast array of strange and exotic animals have called the White House their home over the centuries.
Even those presidents back in the mists of time recognized the value of a goat companion—they weren’t just for meat and milk!
Let’s look further into this.
What presidents had goats?
As far as we know, there are three presidents in history who have owned goats.
The first of them was William Henry Harrison, who was inaugurated in 1841.
We aren’t entirely sure what his goats were named, if they had names.
Harrison sadly died only 30 days after his inauguration, making his term the shortest of any president in history.
Nonetheless, he had goats at the White House for those short few days.
Next was a president you’ve probably heard a bit more about—Abraham Lincoln, Civil War president and signer of the Emancipation Proclamation.
He was known for being eccentric, so it may not come as a surprise to many of you that he kept some strange pets on the White House grounds.
He was president from 1861-65, when his term too was unfortunately cut short by an untimely death.
Finally, the last president on record as having kept goats at the White House was Benjamin Harrison, who served his term from 1889 to 1893.
Harrison isn’t remembered for much, but the image of his pet goats pulling his children around the White House grounds in a cart was a common one at the time.
So, as far as we know, these are the only three presidents who kept goats as pets.
Others may have owned goats, or had them in their estate, but these presidents brought goats onto the White House as permanent residents during their terms.
Do we know the names of any of these goats?
What were Benjamin Harrison’s goats called?
As far as we are aware, Benjamin Harrison had just one goat in the White House with him during his tenure as president.
That goat was affectionately named Whiskers, which might sound like a more appropriate name for a cat.
In fact, it is believed he was called Whiskers due to the goat’s prominent beard.
After all, goats are known for their magnificent beards, so it seems like a good guess!
So, that was the first Harrison’s.
What about Lincoln’s?
What were Abraham Lincoln’s goats called?
From what we can tell, Lincoln had two goats at the presidential residence while he served his term.
Those two goats were named Nanny and Nanko—a bonded male and female pair!
Again, these are really affectionate names and suggest they were even breeding the goats at the White House.
Nanny is often what a goat is referred to once it has had kids, so it may well be that this was a breeding doe that Lincoln kept.
Nanko isn’t as clear. It’s likely simply a name that was come up with as a male counterpart to the more obvious Nanny.
In any case, Lincoln’s goats were called Nanny and Nanko.
Finally, we get to the other Harrison.
What were William Harrison’s goats called?
We know for sure that William Harrison had a goat at the White House, and he also had a Durham cow.
The name of the goat is not as clear in the record as the others—we don’t seem to have it written down anywhere.
However, anecdotal reports suggest something interesting—that the goat was possibly called Old Whiskers!
Just like Lincoln, Harrison couldn’t resist but to name his goat for its magnificent beard.
However, we aren’t entirely sure on this point.
It’s not as clear that this is what the goat was called.
Harrison kept the goat mainly for his children and young relatives, and wasn’t as directly involved with its care as the other presidents were.
Do any other presidents have exotic pets to beat this, then?
Which president had a strange pet?
Keeping goats on the grounds certainly made the presidents we’ve talked about unique, but these were far from the strangest pets to be found of any president.
Theodore Roosevelt definitely had the widest and strangest menagerie of animals during his time as president.
He owned, of course, many dogs and cats, but also horses, ponies, snakes, kangaroo mice, a badger named Josiah and even a one-legged rooster!
Goats might be strange for a pet, but not that strange.
One thing we can say for sure about many presidents of history is that they are often exceedingly eccentric.
Indeed, it’s quite unsurprising—such leadership positions with great responsibility often attract strange folk.
But, as we’ve seen, many of them shared our love for goats and kept them as companions throughout their terms as president.