An alligator, tiger cubs, and a dog named Satan - these are the weirdest presidential pets in history

During an 1825 tour of the United States, French revolutionary hero the Marquis de Lafayette visited the White House.

He had an unusual gift for then president John Quincy Adams: an alligator.

Adams decided to lodge the reptile in the then-unfinished East Room of the White House, which had its own bath tub.

According to White House legend he would freak out unsuspecting visitors on tours of the residence by showing them into the room with the alligator.

Source: Presidential Pet Museum, CNN

President Andrew Jackson was an ex-soldier born in a Tennessee log cabin, known for his love of swearing.

When he was elected president in 1830 he brought his pet parrot, Poll, with him — and it seems the bird picked up some of the president's own salty vocabulary.

According to contemporary accounts, at Jackson's own funeral service at the family residence the bird started loudly shrieking swear words so offensive it had to be taken away.

Source: Presidential Pet Museum

Martin van Buren, Jackson's successor, was also gifted wild beasts as a pet by a foreign dignitary.

This time, it was two tiger cubs, given to him by the Sultan of Oman.

Van Buren loved the animals, and battled Congress to be allowed to keep them in the White House.

Congress argued that the cubs had been gifted to the United States, not Buren personally, and that it was up to Congress to decide what to do with them.

Van Buren argued that they had been given to him and that he wanted to keep them.

In the end, Congress won and the cubs were removed from the White House and placed in a Washington zoo.

Source: Newsmax

It's not just exotic animals like tigers, alligators, and parrots that have made the White House their home. Farm animals have also had their turn.

To cut lawn-cutting costs in the White House during World War I, President Woodrow Wilson brought in a flock of sheep to graze the lawns and keep the grass trim. Among them, a tobacco chewing ram called Old Ike.

Source: White House Historical Association

President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge had menagerie of animals living with them during their time in the White House, including a donkey, a bobcat, and geese.

Among the best-loved was a raccoon called Rebecca.

The animal had been sent to the White House from Tennessee to be part of the first family's Thanksgiving meal. But they took a liking to the animal and instead she became a beloved – if mischievous — family pet.

White House staff reportedly weren't so keen on Rebecca, due to her habit of clambering onto furniture, damaging expensive upholstery with her claws.

Source: The Washington Post

One of the most famous pets in White House history is Macaroni, the pony that belonged to President John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline.

The pony was a present from then Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson, and became a well-known sight on White House grounds, where it roamed freely.

Caroline and the pony featured in a Life magazine spread on the first family, and singer-songwriter Neil Diamond claimed that the images inspired his hit song "Sweet Caroline."

Source: The Daily Mail