Word of the Day
Fala (fah-LAH)
· Common clues: 40s White House pet; Roosevelt pet; Franklin's Scottie
· Crossword puzzle frequency: 2 times a year
Fala (April 7, 1940–April 5, 1952) was a famous Scottish Terrier, the beloved dog of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the most famous presidential pets, Fala captured the attention of the public in the United States and followed Roosevelt everywhere, becoming part of Roosevelt's public image. Given to the Roosevelts by a cousin, Fala knew how to perform tricks; his White House antics were widely covered in the media and often referenced both by Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt. Fala survived Roosevelt by seven years and was buried alongside him. A statue of him alongside Roosevelt is prominently featured in Washington, D.C.'s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
Early life
Fala was born on April 7, 1940, and was given as an early Christmas gift to Roosevelt by Augustus G. Kellog of Westport, Connecticut, through Roosevelt's cousin, Margaret "Daisy" Suckley. As a puppy, Fala was given obedience training by Suckley, who taught him to sit, roll over, and jump. His original name was Big Boy; Franklin renamed him Murray the Outlaw of Falahill after John Murray, a famous Scottish ancestor. This was later shortened to "Fala."
White House years
Fala moved into the White House on November 10, 1940. He spent most of his time there until Roosevelt died and was succeeded by Harry S. Truman in April 1945. Fala also traveled with Roosevelt to his home (Springwood) in Hyde Park, New York and Warm Springs, Georgia (Roosevelt's favorite spa town) which helped him with his polio-induced paralysis.
Fala speech
On September 23, 1944, Roosevelt gave his famous "Fala speech" while campaigning in the 1944 presidential election. The 39.5 minute speech was delivered at a campaign dinner in Washington, D.C., before the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America. In the speech, Roosevelt attacks Republican opponents in Congress and details their attacks on him. Late in the speech, Roosevelt addressed false Republican charges that he had accidentally left Fala behind on the Aleutian Islands while on tour there and had sent a U.S. Navy destroyer to retrieve him at an exorbitant cost:
"These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. [laughter] Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks—but Fala does resent them. [laughter] You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I had left him behind on the Aleutian Islands and had sent a destroyer back to find him—at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars—his Scotch soul was furious. [laughter] He has not been the same dog since! [laughter] I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself--such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object to libelous statements about my dog [laughter]."
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fala".
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