Theodore Roosevelt’s pet pooch was once the subject of a political smear campaign.
Political rivals claimed Fala, Roosevelt’s black Scottish terrier, had cost the taxpayers millions because Roosevelt accidentally left his dog behind in Alaska.
Then, the opposing campaign alleged, Roosevelt had sent a destroyer ship back to the islands to fetch Fala, all at the taxpayer’s expenses of up to $20 million.
The whole thing was a lie, and Roosevelt made fun of it in a speech he gave in 1944.
