Dogs in the White House have been an American tradition since John and Abigail Adams brought their dogs Juno and Satan to live with them at the capitol back in 1800. Nearly every US president has had a furry companion to help them oversee the country and President Joe Biden is carrying on that tradition with his two German shepherds, Champ and Major. In fact, the freshly inaugurated Commander-In-Chief has not only carried on the tradition but added a new wag-of-the-tail by being the first president to have a rescue dog, Major, living at the White House.
The first of these two presidential pups to join the Biden family was Champ. As the story goes, Joe told his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, that if Barack Obama, who’d chosen him as running mate, won the 2008 election, they would get a dog to bring along with them. As we all know, Barack Obama did indeed become the President of the United States and so Joe got Champ as a newborn from a breeder in Pennsylvania.
Champ spent the next 10 years as an only child, but then in 2018 was joined by a new little brother, Major. Major was born in 2018 and was part of a litter than could not be cared for by their original owners. Joe and Jill began fostering Major from the Delaware Humane Society shelter where he’d been staying and adopted him later that same year.
Both Champ and Major seem comfortable living in the spotlight and have a strong social media presence. They share aTwitter account (which you can follow HERE) and a fan page on Instagram with over 13,000 subscribers (follow that account HERE). Their Twitter profile lists their hometown as Wilmington, DE and welcomes followers with the message, “We’re The First Good Bois. We’re moving to the White House soon. Our hoomans have decided to get a cat, so they’re not all that perfect anymore.” They have 22,000 twitter followers who scroll their feeds to find out what these two “First Good Bois,” are up to daily. Typical posts include cute statements released by Champ and Major such as:
And:
There are also many beautiful photos of Champ and Major posted to both Twitter and Instagram like the ones below:
This tweet, "authored" by Major, was in response to an injury President Biden received while playing with the young German shepherd:
Back on November 20, then President-elect Biden had fractured his foot while romping around with Major. In an interview with the New York Ppst (read that article HERE) Biden said, “I’m joking, running after him and grab his tail. And what happened was that he slid on a throw rug. And I tripped on the rug he slid on.”
Champ and Major’s social media savvy should come as no surprise as they both were very visible during Biden’s 2020 campaign, and were referenced by him often. They are settling in to carry on the legacy of presidential pooches throughout history, helping guide their favorite human as he guides the country. For that fact alone, these Champ and Major Biden are true American heroes.