(Check out this cool vid too: http://www.whha.org/whha_tours/whitehouse_war/05.swf)
"Fala was born on April 7, 1940, and was given as an early Christmas gift to Roosevelt from Mrs. Augustus G. Kellog of Westport, Connecticut, through Roosevelt's cousin, Margaret "Daisy" Suckley. Asa 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 of Falahill, a famous Scottish ancestor. This was later shortened to "Fala".Fala's silver-and-leather collar, engraved with the words "Fala, the White House."
Fala moved into
An MGM film about a typical day in the White House featured Fala. Fala also became an honorary private in the U.S. Army by "contributing" $1 to the war effort for every day of the year and setting an example for others on the home front. During the Battle of the Bulge, American soldiers asked othe 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 tr
aveled with Roosevelt to his home (Springwood) in Hyde Park, New York and Warm Springs, Georgia (Roosevelt's favorite spa town).
ne another the name of the President's dog, expecting the answer "Fala," as a supplementary safeguard against German soldiers attempting to infiltrate American ranks.
Fala was often with Roosevelt on the scene of important events;
he traveled on Sacred Cow, the president's airplane,
and the Ferdinand Magellan,
Roosevelt's custom-made
In 1943, Fala was the subject of a short series of political cartoons by Alan Foster entitled "Mr. Fala of the White House." In the 1943 romantic comedy Princess O'Rourke, Fala was played by Whiskers.train car, as well as by ship. Fala was with Roosevelt at the
Atlantic Charter Conference, Quebec, and the meeting with President Manuel Ávila Camacho of Mexico in Monterrey.
At the time, Fala was the second most famous terrier in the U.S. next to Terry, the dog who played Toto in the Wizard Of Oz.
Fala attended Roosevelt's funeral and went to live with the widowed Eleanor Roosevelt at Val-Kill. Roosevelt often mentioned Fala in her newspaper column, "My Day."
"It was Fala, my husband's little dog, who never really readjusted. Once, in 1945, when General Eisenhower came to lay a wreath on Franklin's grave, the gates of the regular driveway were opened and his automobile approached the house accompanied by the wailing of the sirens of a police escort. When Fala heard the sirens, his legs straightened out, his ears pricked up and I knew that he expected to see his master coming down the drive as he had co
me so many times. Later, when we were living in the cottage, Fala always lay near the dining-room door where he could watch both entrances just as he did when his master was there. Franklin would often decide suddenly to go somewhere and Fala had to watch both entrances in order to be ready to spring up and join the party on short notice. Fala accepted me after my husband's death, but I was just someone to put up with until the master should return."
—Eleanor Roosevelt."
Pics from : http://fdr-fala.tumblr.com/
Info from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fala_(dog)
