How much do you know about presidential pets? Take our quiz.

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In this March photo, President Barack Obama pets the family dog Bo, outside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/File)

As a struggling economy dogs President Obama, his famous four-legged friend, Bo, could be a political risk, a new George Washington University study finds. The authors conclude that presidential pets are welcomed in times of scandal and war but not in bouts of economic instability. Whatever the case, first pets have long attracted publicity and press. From pooches to parakeets, see what facts you can recall about some noteworthy presidential pets. 

- Kimberly Railey, Contributor

The alligator was a gift from Marquis de Lafayette. The reptile lived in the White House for several months. Adams reportedly said he enjoyed “the spectacle of guests fleeing from the room in terror.”

The alligator was a gift from Marquis de Lafayette. The reptile lived in the White House for several months. Adams reportedly said he enjoyed “the spectacle of guests fleeing from the room in terror.”

The alligator was a gift from Marquis de Lafayette. The reptile lived in the White House for several months. Adams reportedly said he enjoyed “the spectacle of guests fleeing from the room in terror.”

The alligator was a gift from Marquis de Lafayette. The reptile lived in the White House for several months. Adams reportedly said he enjoyed “the spectacle of guests fleeing from the room in terror.”

1. Which president housed an alligator briefly in the bathroom of the East Room?

Thomas Jefferson
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
Theodore Roosevelt

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