Prez ganged: The pets and pet hates of US presidents till Trump 😜

Modern historians rate it the most powerful office in the world, loaded with the most awesome responsibilities. Donald Trump stepped lightly into it, claiming he had answers to all problems, and it would be a cakewalk.

Apparently, it is more quicksand than cakewalk, and therefore more work and more difficult than he anticipated. So now the finger pointing has begun. Everyone else is to blame – from the bureaucracy, to Congress, to his pet hate, the media.

There has not been a US president who has not complained about the media. “If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: President Can’t Swim,” sneered Lyndon Johnson at the “nattering nabobs of negativity”, as former vice-president Spiro Agnew characterised the media. Implicit in Johnson’s metaphorical construct was the idea that presidents can walk on water, a boast worthy of Trump.

Self-effacement is a pre-requisite for the Oval Office. Other presidents have come into the White House with a reputation of being lightweight, and have used self-deprecation to disarm critics. Accused of nodding off during meetings, Ronald Reagan joked, “I have left orders to be awakened at any time during national emergency, even if I’m in a cabinet meeting.”

Even the greatest of American presidents forsook vanity and conceit. Accused of double dealing Abraham Lincoln, reputedly among the ugliest of US presidents, drolly replied, “If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

Most presidents run into rough weather only towards the end of their term if they have not delivered the goods, and there’s not much they can do about it. “Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it,” warned Johnson. Rocked by multiple crises, including the Iran hostage fiasco, Jimmy Carter dryly observed towards the end of his presidency, “My esteem in this country has gone up substantially. It is very nice now when people wave at me, they use all their fingers.”

In contrast, Trump’s troubles began from the get-go when he discovered the reality of office within the 12 square miles of Washington DC (which his purported idol Andrew Jackson thought was 12 square miles bordered by reality). Left with few allies, Trump may well consider Harry Truman’s advice that “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” After all, he is the first president in 150 years who does not have a pet.