The Full Wiki

Buddy (dog): Wikis




From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clinton Buddy 120597.jpg
President Bill Clinton and Buddy
Birth name Budweiser
Species Canis lupus familiaris
Breed Labrador Retriever
Gender Male
Born September, 1997
Maryland, United States
Died January 2, 2002 (aged 4)
New York, United States
Nation from American
Occupation First Dog of the United States of America 1993–2001
Known for pet of the First Family of the United States
Predecessor Millie
Successor Barney
Owner Bill Clinton
Appearance Brown fur

Buddy "Budweiser" (September 1997 – January 2, 2002), a male chocolate-colored Labrador Retriever, was one of two pets owned by Bill Clinton while he was President of the United States. The Clintons' other pet was a cat named Socks.

Clinton acquired Buddy as a 3-month-old puppy from Caroline County, Maryland in December 1997. He named him after his late great-uncle, Henry Oren "Buddy" Grisham, who had died the previous June and whom Clinton often cited as a major influence on his life.[1][2]

Socks didn't get along with the frisky Buddy, so the White House had to keep the two in separate quarters. Since this arrangement would be no longer possible in the Clintons' smaller home in New York, Socks was left under the care of Bill Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie. Buddy, however, suffered the same fate as Clinton's previous dog, a cocker spaniel named Zeke, when he was killed by a car while running loose near the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York, on January 2, 2002.[3]

Clinton later acquired a second Labrador, Seamus.

Cultural references

First Lady Hillary Clinton wrote a children's book called Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets in 1998.[4] It included excerpts from more than 50 letters written to the First Pets by children and more than 80 photographs of Socks and Buddy.

Buddy is a central character in Rick Cleveland's 2005 one-man show My Buddy Bill,[5] relating the writer's fictional friendship with Bill Clinton, which began when both men discovered their common interest for dogs.


  1. ^ Los Angeles Times
  2. ^ Washington Post
  3. ^
  4. ^ Clinton, Hillary, Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets, Simon & Schuster, 1998, ISBN 0684857782, ISBN 9780684857787
  5. ^ "My Buddy Bill", Hollywood Reporter, November 23, 2005.

See also

Honorary titles
Preceded by
(George H. W. Bush's
Springer Spaniel)
US White House pet dog
December 1997 – January 20, 2001
Succeeded by
(George W. Bush's
Scottish Terrier)

Got something to say? Make a comment.
Your name
Your email address