The First Cat has arrived to the White House, as Major and Commander Biden can now count Willow Biden the cat as their fursister.
According to an NPR headline, Willow is already looking quite presidential, as she immediately becomes the highest-profile feline First Pet since Socks Clinton, though black cat India Bush also occupied the White House in between them.
NPR states that First Lady Jill Biden first became aware of the gray striped (tabby) cat after Willow interrupted a speech given at a farm during the 2020 presidential campaign.
“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. Seeing their immediate bond, the owner of the farm knew that Willow belonged with Dr. Biden,” the First Lady’s spokesperson, Michael LaRosa, said in a press release.
First Cat Willow Biden moves into the White House.
Willow is named after Dr. Jill Biden’s hometown of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, which is a Philadelphia suburb of around 15,000 people.
While not that many presidents have been cat people, according to Wikipedia, Martin Van Buren may have briefly had tiger cubs as pets before they were donated to a zoo, Tabby and Dixie Lincoln are the first First Cats to be credited, and Sam Hayes was the first Siamese cat in the United States.
William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, John F Kennedy, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were the other presidents who had cats as pets.
🐾 Hello, hoomans. My name is Willow Biden, I am 2 years old and I just became First Cat. Even though my brother is named Commander and he is bigger than me, I am purrfectly certain I will be in charge. Meoweee! #Willow #COTUS 🐈 pic.twitter.com/7vcBPgVEx6
— The Oval Pawffice® 🇺🇸 DOTUS Fans (@TheOvalPawffice) January 28, 2022
“Hello, hoomans, my name is Willow Biden,” Willow posted to the Oval Pawffice Twitter account. “I am 2 years old and just became First Cat. Even though my brother is named Commander and is bigger than me, I am certain that I will be in charge.”
This is very hard to argue with, and her mastery of human English grammar and spelling is already quite an improvement over Champ, Major and Commander’s written fluency, which of course isn’t that much of a surprise as cats are masters of everything they wish to undertake.
Congratulations to Willow and the Biden family, and cat lovers everywhere.