Honor's Foxfire Liberty Hume (February 8, 1974 – 1986) ( AKC Registration Number SB578950) was the

Golden Retriever The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...

presidential pet of

Betty Ford Elizabeth Anne Ford (; formerly Warren; April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011) was the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a pol ...

and

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

. Liberty was born February 8, 1974, and given to the president as an 8-month-old puppy by his daughter

Susan Ford Susan Elizabeth Ford Bales (born July 6, 1957) is an American author, photojournalist, and former chair of the board of the Betty Ford Center for alcohol and drug abuse. She is the daughter of Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States ...

and new White House photographer

David Hume Kennerly David Hume Kennerly (born March 9, 1947) is an American photographer. He won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his portfolio of photographs of the Vietnam War, Cambodia, East Pakistani refugees near Calcutta, and the Fight of t ...

in the fall of 1974. The breeder of the dark gold pup was Ann (Avis) Friberg of

Mount Vernon, Washington Mount Vernon is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington, Skagit County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 35,219 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is one of two principal cities of and include ...

. Liberty was frequently photographed with Ford in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

, in the swimming pool at

Camp David Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States of America. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about north-northwe ...

and on the South Lawn of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

. She also had a litter of pups in the White House on September 14, 1975, one of which – Misty – was kept by Ford. At one point Ford was locked in a White House stairwell after returning from walking the dog on the South Lawn early one morning. Photographs of the dog were autographed with a rubber stamp of her paw print. Stories indicated that if Ford wanted to end a conversation in the Oval Office he would signal Liberty and she would go to the guest wagging her tail creating a natural break. Ford discussed the dog in a speech on October 9, 1974, in a tribute to

William Scranton William Warren Scranton (July 19, 1917 – July 28, 2013) was an American Republican Party politician and diplomat. Scranton served as the 38th Governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967, and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations f ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

: : This puppy has really taken over the White House. In fact, you may have seen some of us laughing up here during dinner. As I reached in my pocket to get a match to light my pipe, look what I pulled out of the pocket — some

dog biscuit A dog biscuit is a hard biscuit-based dietary supplement for dogs or other canines, similar to human snack food. Dog biscuits tend to be hard and dry. Dog biscuits may be sold in a flat bone-shape. The dry and hard biscuit texture helps clean ...

s! aughter : Let me tell you the story about Susan and Dave and how they bought this dog. I first should preface that the Fords had had two previous golden retrievers. One lived 13 years and died, and then another one died a year ago in August after 9 years. So we are fairly partial, I would say, to golden retrievers. : Well, Dave and Susan called up a very highly recommended individual who had contacts with the people who raise golden retrievers all over the country. And Dave, as I understand it — who is communicating with the breeder who happened to have a golden retriever about this age — Dave asked the individual if they had a dog and was it available, and the owner said that they had this 8-month-old golden retriever, but breeder was a little cautious — they're very possessive about these dogs — and he asked in a very nice way who the dog's owner would be. : And they said, Dave and Susan, that they had to keep it a secret. Well, the kennel owner said that they don't sell dogs that way. He would have to know who the dog's owner would be, and he wanted to know would the dog have a good home. : So, Dave and Susan very specifically assured the dog owner that it would have a good home. They explained that the parents were friendly and middle-aged and they had four children. The kennel owner said, "That sounds fine. What kind of a house do they live in?" : Susan and Dave said, "Well, it is a big white house with a fence around it." The kennel owner said, "This is a big dog. Will it have enough to eat? Does the father have a steady job?" Well, on that question, they were stuck a bit. aughter : Needless to say they got the dog and, in the appropriate spirit of the city of Philadelphia, we have named her "Liberty." One of those inquisitive reporters that we have in Washington asked Susan who is going to take care of Liberty; who is going to feed her and groom her and take her out each night or every morning? And Susan did not hesitate one minute. She said, "Of course, it will be Dad." So, I have this feeling — this is one Liberty that is going to cost me some of mine. aughter : But in a very broader sense, that is the true nature of liberty. It comes with both privileges and obligations. Freedom, we all know, is seldom free. Liberty is immortalized in bronze as part of Ford's statue in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

's "City of Presidents" public art installation of presidential statues.Rapid City Tourism: City of Presidents, Gerald Ford
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References

External links

White House: Presidential Pets - White House photo
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928161558/http://www.grweekly.com/cgi-bin/webdata_pro.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=print&keyval=dogdirectory.alphanumeric_name%3DHonorsFoxfireLibertyHume Liberty's Pedigree at Golden Retriever Weekly]
Liberty's K9Data Page Link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty 1974 animal births 1984 animal deaths Gerald Ford United States presidential dogs

See also

References

External links