The First Family has introduced the First Cat.
Willow, a short-haired, two-year-old gray tabby with jade colored eyes, recently moved into the White House. Her name is inspired by Dr. Jill Biden’s hometown of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
The First Lady met Willow during a Western Pennsylvania campaign stop in 2020.
“Willow made quite an impression on Dr. Biden in 2020 when she jumped up on the stage and interrupted her remarks during a campaign stop,” wrote Michael LaRosa, a spokesman for the first lady, in a news release. “Seeing their immediate bond, the owner of the farm knew that Willow belonged with Dr. Biden.”
The New York Times reports:
The cat’s arrival was much anticipated after Dr. Biden casually mentioned in a November 2020 interview that she’d love to have a cat in the White House, and later lightheartedly suggested that the animal was “waiting in the wings.” To feline fans everywhere, this might as well have been a blood oath that a cat would soon be revealed.
For more than a year, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was peppered with questions about the administration’s cat policy by reporters and other interested parties. She seemed aware of the stakes behind the cat’s public rollout.
“I’m also wondering about the cat,” she said during a question-and-answer session with Twitter users last January, “because the cat is going to dominate the internet.”
The Washington Post adds:
Willow will be the first cat to live in the White House since President George W. Bush’s cat, India, in 2009 — and one of only a dozen feline inhabitants in the entire history of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Andrew Hager, historian for the online Presidential Pet Museum, attributes the disparity to personality — both the presidents’ and the cats’. Presidents tend to be extroverted, a trait they share with dogs, which have been the most popular presidential pet by far.
“I always think that some of it is the fact that cats are a little bit less trainable,” says Hager. “So it’s harder to bring a cat to a news conference and have it sit there and look cute.”
Willow shares the White House with Commander, a German Shepherd puppy, who the first family adopted last year.
CNN explains:
The Bidens’ beloved German Shepherd, Champ, died in June at the age of 13. Their other German Shepherd, a rescue named Major, has been living away from the White House after a handful of aggressive incidents involving staff there.
