4. Silkworms And An Alligator In The East Room's Bath Tub (John Quincy Adams)
It seems that 19th Century Presidents were the most mental when it comes to White House pets - and John Quincy Adams is not exception. The sixth President of the US (1825-1829) not only produced his very own silk while in office using domesticated
Bombyx mori (silkworms/silkmoths) - he also kept an alligator in a bath tub in the East Room of the White House. Revolutionary war hero Marquis de Lafayette had received an alligator as a gift - and so instead decided to pass it on to Adams. Apparently the President adored the beast because it gave him a new party trick - Adams loved to invite unsuspecting guests, particularly Congressmen who hated him (of who there were many), into the East Room for a fright! The 31st President, Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), also kept two alligators in the White House as his son, Allan Henry, loved them. They were even allowed to crawl around the grounds!