Former President George H.W. Bush loved his dog Ranger. The letter is clear, He really wanted his dog to lose weight and he was clearly worried about his overall well-being. A site posted the below letter yesterday in celebration of #interntionaldogday.
Ranger was named in honor of the Texas Rangers baseball team, a brown and white English springer spaniel, was the only male from Millie's (another springer the Bush family lived with) celebrated White House litter.
In this letter, he asks the White House staff to please stop feeding Ranger treats!
He asks that anyone who sees someone sneaking treats to Ranger is encouraged to send a note and 'rat' on the individual as the weight management plan was a very important priority!
There was a pledge for all offices to take that was simple and yet in all caps.
"All offices should take a formal 'pledge' that reads as follows: 'WE AGREE NOT TO FEED RANGER. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM BISCUITS. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM FOOD OF ANY KIND,'" reads the 1992 memo tweeted by Letters of Note on Monday.
In another letter, he talks about how much his dog's death impacted him and it's a pretty amazing letter overall.
In a later letter reproduced by the site, Bush speaks of Ranger's death, writing, "I cried for two days. I cried because I loved him and knew I'd miss him; for he had made me the happiest dog owner in the whole world. I know that when you are an old guy, you aren't supposed to cry, but I did."
We included it below.
George Bush Sr's dog got so fat in 1992 that he (Bush) sent this memo to all White House staff.#InternationalDogDay pic.twitter.com/W70Ld4o2xT
— Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote) August 26, 2019
So, uhh, years later, George Bush Sr. wrote a letter to a puppy (!!) and mentioned the death of Ranger, the fat dog.
(Found in 'All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings') pic.twitter.com/nR9Gzq4m6z
— Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote) August 26, 2019
This is a man that loved his dogs.
"I cried for two days."
Camp David was where Ranger liked to run around and chase squirrels. How lucky was he to have such a wonderful playground!
George Bush Sr. is a wonderful man that has a huge heart for those springer spaniels. I'm so happy this letter resurfaced on social media. He was clearly joking when he called his dog a blimp but needed to make the point so White House staffers knew his dog was on a weight management plan. This overweight dog was no different than all of our dogs that need to be on a diet. We're so glad international dog day brought this letter back into the mix so we could read both the letter about Ranger and also the letter about his passing.
The health care of all our dogs is important! We hope that Trump decides on a dog and then moving forward all presidential candidates bring a dog with them in the White House.
George W. Bush also had dogs in the office while he was president. It doesn't matter if you're a democrat or a republican as both parties have always had their dogs with them by their side.
Former President H.W. Bush loved those hounds! Please leave us a comment below!
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