If you’ve been studying your presidential pets, you probably know that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had a Scottish Terrier named Fala. By all accounts, FDR and Fala were inseparable. (In fact, Fala even appears next to his master at the FDR Memorial in DC.) At one point, there were rumors that FDR accidentally left Fala behind during a trip to the Aleuitian Islands. During the 1944 presidential campaign, Republicans contended that FDR had spent taxpayer money to send a destroyer back to retrieve Fala. These accusations resulted in the famous “Fala speech” – you can read the full text here, but I’ve found a clip of the portion dealing with Fala and I thought it would be perfect to share with you today.
Happy Presidents’ Day!
Thanks for the giggle. I had read about that speech but had no idea there was newsreel footage of it out there. Fabulous!
Who knew FDR had such great comic timing?
Wow! Now THAT is devotion.
Love Noodles
Thanks for the info! I had never heard of that before! I would of used taxpayers money too…for my dog:)
LOL! Better than some of the things government spends money on!
Just teasing,
Hugs,
ha ha! Great find! And what a comedian FDR was! Fala sure was an adorable dog.
Diane and Cosmo
So happy you shared this video! I knew about Fala but had never heard this! Thank you!!
Great video, thanks for posting it. We had an article about Presidential Pets a month or so ago. I suppose if I had been smart, I would have saved that for today's post!
Intresting video, Happy President's Day to you.
See Yea George xxx
His little soul is furious!
That is so funny! Mama says she thinks she knew of this a little bit but never saw the actual speech.We laughed because the dog was rolling around and acting silly the whole time!
Awesome! I love the snippet of Fala listening to the radio!
-Chandra at Daley's Dog Years
That is great! I didn't know that one. Love the video. What a sweet dog! Lots of love, Holly and mom
Thanks for the smiles! This video is great!
Your pal, Pip
Fala is a great presidential pet for sure. I also like LBJ's beagles, Him and Her.
Very cute!
Thank you for your comment on Monday Memories. It really meant a lot to me.
Is it my imagination or did FDR make use of an invidious Scottish stereotype? And everyone LAUGHED??? Times have certainly changed!
Politicians today need to lighten up– laughing at your critics is the best reaction possible. Maybe then we could get out of the cycle of attack and counter-attack.
Oh, and the dog is cute too!
onepersonsview – You're so right. If a politician did that now, everyone would freak out!