See photos of White House dogs, cats, and the occasional raccoon from the AP Photo Library.

A Marine guard salutes as President George W. Bush's dog Barney disembarks from Marine One on the south lawn of the White House in March 2004. Barney was returning from Camp David with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush.

During his first presidential campaign in November 2000, Bush and running mate Dick Cheney walk with Bush's dog Spot down a dirt road near Crawford, Texas. The three were on their way to meet with reporters.

President Bush pets Spot in the Oval Office on October 2, 2001.

President Clinton walks with his daughter, Chelsea; wife, Hillary; and Labrador retriever, Buddy, as they leave the White House for a vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on August 18, 1998. This photo, part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning package by AP photographers, was shot one day after the president admitted to a relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky that was "not appropriate."

Socks, the Clinton family cat, peers over the White House briefing room podium in March 1994. After the Clintons left the White House in January 2001, Socks lived with Bill Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie, in Hollywood, Maryland.

Former first lady Grace Coolidge, the wife of Calvin Coolidge, holds the family's pet raccoon Rebecca in Plymouth, Vermont. Raccoons were just one of many types of animals kept at the White House during the Coolidge administration.

Arguably the most popular White House pet ever, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's dog Fala sits next to a radio carrying his master's voice. When Fala died in 1952, he was buried beside FDR.

President Gerald Ford is joined by his golden retriever Liberty as he confers with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, left, and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft in the Oval Office on October 8, 1974.

Laddie Boy, the pet airedale of President Warren G. Harding, gazes at a "radiotone" portrait of himself, which was presented to first lady Florence Harding in July 1922.

President Herbert Hoover holds his pet dog King Tut, circa 1928. This photo was widely circulated during the 1928 presidential campaign, and some observers credited it with helping boost Hoover's image in his election win over Democratic candidate Al Smith.

First lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes daughter Caroline and playmates for a sleigh ride on the south grounds of the White House in February 1962. Pulling the sleigh is Macaroni, Caroline's brown-and-white pony.

President Kennedy and his family (from left: daughter Caroline, wife Jacqueline, and son John Jr.) play with several of the family's pets while on vacation in this undated photo.

President Lyndon B. Johnson holds Her by the ears as White House visitors look on. At left is President Johnson's other dog, Him. This picture, from April 27, 1964, raised criticism from dog lovers.

First lady Michelle Obama walks Bo, the first family's Portuguese water dog, on April 14, 2009, as President Barack Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, follow behind.

President Obama tries to keep up with 6-month-old Bo on the south lawn of the White House in April 2009.

A few days after giving his famous "Checkers" speech, President Richard Nixon (at the time a Senator and the Republican vice presidential candidate) relaxes with his family on the lawn of their Washington home in September 1952. Sitting with Nixon is his wife, Pat, their children Julie and Patricia, and of course Checkers, their cocker spaniel.

President Ronald Reagan muses with reporters and photographers after his canine companion Millie surprised him at a legislation signing ceremony in Santa Barbara, California, on August 14, 1981.

President Theodore Roosevelt reads in the doorway of a house in Colorado with his dog Skip on his lap in April 1905.

Watching from an upstairs window at the White House, first lady Nancy Reagan holds Rex, her King Charles spaniel, as she watches President Ronald Reagan conduct a Rose Garden ceremony on October 2, 1987.

Feller, a 5-week-old cocker spaniel puppy sent to President Harry Truman as a gift, poses beside his crate in a White House corridor in December 1947. Truman declined the gift, raising the ire of the nation's dog lovers.

"First Pet: The Presidents and Their Beloved Canines, Felines, and Other Four-Legged Creatures Who Made Their Homes at the White House" includes more than 400 photos, culled from the AP Photo Library, of "first pets" that have taken up residence in the White House. Beyond man's best friend, the menagerie of presidential pets includes an alligator, bear, blue macaw, coyote, horse, hyena, kangaroo, rat, raccoon, sheep, snake, wildcat, and many, many more.

Learn More About "First Pet"