Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
Fans of American history may recall the infamous words attributed President Harry S. Truman: “You want a friend in politics? Get a dog.” It turns out that Truman himself might never have actually uttered this memorable phrase, but rather an actor portraying him in the play Give ’em Hell Harry actually did – no matter, it’s still a great (and very true) saying.
I do have to admit that, as a converted dog person, I feel some kind of way about fellow dog people.
Similarly, I have a deep distrust of anyone who doesn’t like animals. The current occupant of the White House, for example, has no pets – the first president to be pet-less for well over a century – and apparently harbors a deep dislike of canines.
To date, 45 men (yes, always men) have served in 47 presidencies, and all but two of them (including Trump and James K. Polk) kept some kind of pet – assuming you include horses, though back in the day, equines were often viewed more as transport than companion. The vast majority of those pets were dogs, though there were quite a few birds in the mix, too, which I found surprising.
Many of these dogs enjoyed a considerable fan base – even back in the day before social media. FDR’s Scottish Terrier, Fala, was so popular that she received more fan mail than her master. LBJ was famous for bringing the first rescue dog, Yuki, to the White House. Joe Biden had the first -shelter-adopted dog. His pooches had quite the online following, but also generated some not-so-positive headlines during his tenure.
One of the most infamous political dogs might be a black-and-white cocker spaniel named Checkers, which was gifted to one Richard M. Nixon when he was a state senator from Texas. At the time, Nixon was running for vice president on the ticket with presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his candidacy was almost tanked by a corruption scandal – until Checkers stepped in to save the day.
In short: Nixon was being accused of misusing $18,235 in campaign contributions – a very sizable sum back then. Nixon took to the airwaves on this day in 1952 to defend himself. During the televised speech, Nixon mentioned defiantly that he would not return one gift he had received from a supporter – a puppy named Checkers that as beloved by his young daughters, Tricia and Julie.
The dog story struck a chord with the American people and is widely credited for saving Nixon’s VP run. It has since been known as the “Checkers Speech” and today is known as National Checkers Day, or, in some circles, National Dogs in Politics Day.
Nixon and Eisenhower swept to victory in November, though we all know what happened from there: Nixon eventually went on to become president himself and was embroiled in a far larger scandal – a little something known as Watergate.
Checkers, ironically, never lived in the White House. He died four years before Nixon was elected president.
A beautiful day is on tap with bright, clear, sunny skies and temperatures topping out in the low 70s.
In the headlines…
The podium of the UN was an unusual setting for the leader of a global superpower to threaten to “annihilate the Islamic republic” of Iran or to declare that, in another conflict, “to the victor belong the spoils.” Yet that was what President Trump did on Tuesday.
The Trump administration is considering a ban on exports of diesel as high prices of the fuel put a crunch on American agriculture and trucking.
A Republican senator called for the Senate to investigate whether Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, exploited his access to his father for personal gain, spurred by reports that a Russian oligarch funded a lavish wedding after-party for the younger Trump.
White House officials said in a court filing Tuesday that President Trump had determined that CNN, MS NOW and Politico had breached standards of conduct, leading to their expulsion from the White House grounds.
The alleged violations, said the filing, include “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information.”
Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday refused to intervene in a high-profile custody battle that involved difficult questions surrounding surrogacy and abortion, leaving in place a lower-court order that gave custody to the biological parents in the dispute.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., raised concerns during an interview published Tuesday about how her race and gender could factor into a potential 2028 presidential bid.
Ocasio-Cortez will visit Buffalo on Thursday and meet with Mayor Sean Ryan in a plan to stir inactive Democratic voters to head to the voting booths in November.
Ocasio-Cortez has dramatically claimed that if she runs for her seat again or for the Senate or White House in 2028 and doesn’t win, that’s the end of her time in office.
The union representing state correction officers in New York issued its first-ever endorsement in a race for governor Tuesday, backing Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s bid to unseat Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat.
Blakeman promised he’d ease restrictions on solitary confinement as he picked up the endorsement of the correction officers union.
A super PAC backing Blakeman sent a fleet of moving trucks into Manhattan Tuesday, sending a message to Hochul that it’s time she packed her bags.
Hochul leads Blakeman in the race for governor 50-41%, little changed from 49-39% in August, according to a new Siena poll of likely New York State voters released today
Hochul removed the top official at the state’s Office of Information Technology Services this week after losing confidence in him, her administration said.
Hochul will face off against Blakeman in a primetime televised debate hosted by Spectrum News on Oct. 13, moderated by Errol Louis, host of NY1’s “Inside City Hall” and “Capitol Tonight” anchor Susan Arbetter.
The gubernatorial debate between Hochul and the Nassau County executive will be the last of three debates for statewide offices ahead of the Nov. 3 elections, including the races for the offices of comptroller and attorney general.
New York is preparing to pour nearly $1 billion into a sweeping new round of clean-energy and affordability programs aimed at lowering home heating costs, improving school air quality and strengthening the state’s energy supply as demand surges.
Hochul announced a new climatology tool from the New York State Mesonet at the University at Albany as the state enters Climate Week.
Energy groups are pushing Hochul to restart Indian Point’s dormant nuclear reactors as part of a new ad blitz for “Climate Week.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Hochul spearheaded a multi-state lawsuit on Tuesday to salvage offshore wind projects canceled by the federal government under Trump.
A report developed by a labor and environmental policy group is calling for a major rethinking of how New York upgrades and electrifies homes and apartments.
The powerful health care union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East has amassed enough support among the 190,000 caregivers in New York’s popular Medicaid home care program to trigger an election.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Mayor Zohran Mamdani clashed in public statements on Tuesday, with the mayor again calling the prime minister a war criminal in a CNN interview and Netanyahu releasing a video attacking the mayor.
Netanyahu lambasted Mamdani in a video message posted to social media, criticizing the democratic socialist mayor for defending Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Shame on you for supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people,” Netanyahu said in a video message. “Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews. I’m coming to the UN. I’m going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’ve got to tell the truth about you.”
The New York City Council held an oversight hearing on Tuesday to scrutinize the Mamdani administration’s use of influencers and its communication methods. It became quickly clear that the Council would not be getting what it wanted.
Mamdani’s Office of New Media may be novel, but City Council members raised some familiar complaints about it at an oversight hearing on Tuesday.
Mamdani staffers appear to have blatantly ignored an explicit order not to use the encrypted messaging app Signal as they colluded with an army of nearly 200 “influencers” for positive coverage.
Mamdani’s administration has reached a $131.5 million settlement with DoorDash over violations of city laws covering delivery workers.
Mamdani is facing fresh backlash over sidelining key stakeholders from talks about developing thousands of housing units on top of a Queens rail yard.
The New York City Council is set to question NYPD officials tomorrow about how the department collects and audits crime data, even as recent statistics show murders and shootings at historic lows.
The New York City Marathon course is changing for the first time in 15 years, organizers announced Tuesday.
At least six major hospitals across the country – including in New York – have recently agreed to stop providing gender-transition treatment to adolescents to end a DOJ investigation into potential legal violations related to billing practices and consumer fraud.
After 12 rounds of voting over three-and-a-half hours, Suffolk County Democratic Party Chair Rich Schaffer emerged victorious in the battle for control of the party he has led for over a quarter century.
Former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is scheduled to be resentenced today, appearing via Zoom before a federal judge in Central Islip after an appeals court overturned part of his conviction on corruption charges.
Buffalo Common Council members are moving forward with a proposed two-year moratorium on new data centers and cryptocurrency facilities.
A new program run by the Albany County jail and the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society will house up to 15 dogs at a new kennel on the jail’s campus, employing residents of the jail’s homeless shelter to care for the dogs.
A stalemate over the selection of members to a panel that scrutinizes police internal affairs investigations in Schenectady has left the panel with too few members to function.
Cardona’s Market has launched the “Chicken Cordon Pink,” a limited-time sandwich created to raise money for the American Cancer Society and its Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign.
Field of Horrors co-owners David and Stacey Mulinio in Brunswick say they are on track to open this season after a summer fire destroyed three haunted houses at the popular horror attraction.
Residents at Malta Gardens Mobile Home Park say a sale of the park has left them worried about evictions and what comes next.
Warren County election officials say voters can feel confident mailing in their ballots as the county begins processing absentee ballots more than a month ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3.
Photo credit: George Fazio
