Photo of First Dog Bo - White House Press
American memories of Socks the Cat, the famous Clinton kitty, were strong enough to make the black and white feline the nation's favorite first pet, beating Bo Obama by a few whiskers in our latest Whispers poll.
While younger Americans with little memory of Socks chose Bo, the cat still won the top slot, 34 percent to 28 percent.
Rounding out the top five were Millie, the spaniel of former President George H.W. Bush, at 17 percent, Barney, George W. Bush's Scottie at 13 percent, and former President Reagan's dog Lucky at 8 percent.
Our poll revealed a remarkable division between older and younger Americans. Younger Americans clearly have a good impression of Bo, a Portuguese water dog, who stars in this year's White House Christmas decorations. Americans aged 18-34 went for Bo by a margin of 40 percent to 30 percent for Socks.
Older Americans went strongly for Socks and the 55-56 age group even picked Millie as No. 2 behind Socks.
[Obamas Showcase First Pup Bo for Christmas.]
The Whispers Poll
The first family's staff has made the Obamas' dog, Bo, the star in the annual White House Christmas decorations.
With that in mind, who do you think is the most famous recent presidential pet?
Socks, the Clinton cat 34%
Bo, the Obama dog 28%
Millie, George H.W. Bush's dog 17%
Barney, George W. Bush's dog 13%
Lucky, the Reagan dog 8%
Source: The Synovate eNation Internet poll was conducted December 9-13 among a national sample of 1,000 households by global market research firm Synovate.
- See photos of the Obamas behind the scenes.
- Check out our gallery of Whispers political caricatures.
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AmRifleman of PA 7:42AM December 22, 2011
JoeKidd of CA 11:06PM December 21, 2011