{"id":283,"date":"2024-11-14T17:05:46","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T18:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/?p=283"},"modified":"2025-04-25T14:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T14:50:11","slug":"the-first-beagles-whose-ears-lbj-just-had-to-tug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/14\/the-first-beagles-whose-ears-lbj-just-had-to-tug\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Beagles Whose Ears LBJ Just Had to Tug"},"content":{"rendered":"

Early in his first term as president, Lyndon B. Johnson<\/a> found himself caught up in a scandal involving his family\u2019s beagles, named Her and Him. The trouble started when the President was welcoming a group of business leaders at the Rose Garden, and he lifted one of the family pets by its ears, causing the dog to cry out. Johnson then commented, \u201cIt does them good to let them yelp.\u201d <\/p>\n

The ear-pulling was captured by an Associated Press photographer, and plenty of dog lovers became upset at the President. At this link<\/a> you can see the photo, as well as audio of Johnson talking about how a senator brought up the ear-pulling during negotiations with Congress over the Civil Rights Act of 1964<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After that incident Johnson\u2019s beagles soon appeared on the cover of LIFE\u2019s June 19, 1964 issue<\/a>. The story aimed to show that, despite the ear-pulling incident, Her and Him were enjoying life under the Johnson Administration. \u201cNot many dogs have been privileged to shoo birds off the White House lawn, get underfoot at a cabinet meeting or mingle with dignitaries at a State Ball,\u201d LIFE wrote. \u201cCertainly no dogs in all the world have the Bouquet Room as their private boudoir.\u201d<\/p>\n

LIFE staff photographer Francis Miller<\/a> was given great access to Him and Her, and he came to the White House prepared to make the most of it. An animal lover himself, Miller brought a full assortment of treats and amusements to get the beagles on his side. Here\u2019s how LIFE described the shoot:<\/p>\n

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Too wise in the ways of puppies to believe that affection alone would produce good photographs, Miller stretched himself out on the White House lawn, alternately barked like a dog, tossed a bone in the air, plied the beagles with his Yummies, huffed into the harmonica and joggled the toy bird in his left hand. This left him free to shoot the cover with his right hand and his right eye.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The story stated that Him and Her were primarily the pets of LBJ\u2019s daughter Luci<\/a>, who was 16 years old at the time. And she was not the beagles\u2019 only caretaker. Miller took several photos of the dogs in the company of Thraphes Bryant, who in addition to being the White House electrician helped look after the dogs. <\/p>\n

The affection between Bryant and the beagles was clear in Miller\u2019s photos. And Bryant tended to many First Dogs during his career. He would write a memoir about it, titled \u201cDog Days at the White House: The Outrageous Memoirs of the Presidential Kennel Keeper<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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President Lyndon B. Johnson\u2019s pet beagles, Him and Her, on the White House lawn, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Him and Her, pet Beagles of President Lyndon B. Johnson, sitting together on lawn of White House, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Him and Her, pet Beagles of President Lyndon B. Johnson, in a White House sitting room, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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President Lyndon B. Johnson, along with his daughter Luci Baines Johnson (left) and her friend Warri Lynn Smith (center), played with the family beagles, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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President Lyndon B Johnson\u2019s beagles at the White House, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Lyndon Johnson\u2019s beagles, Him and Her, at the White House, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Him and Her, the beagles belonging to the Lyndon B. Johnson family, made sport of an old overshoe in the White House living quarters, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Lyndon Johnson\u2019s beagles, Him and Her, at the White House, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Thraphes Bryant, in addition to being White House electrician, helped care for the beagles of Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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White House electrician Thraphes Bryant helped care for LBJ\u2019s beagles, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Thraphes Bryant, in addition to being White House electrician, helped care for the beagles of Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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LIFE photographer Francis Miller took photos of President Lyndon B. Johnson\u2019s beagles, Him and Her, on the White House lawn, 1964.<\/p>\n

Francis Miller\/Life Picture Collection\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The post The First Beagles Whose Ears LBJ Just Had to Tug<\/a> appeared first on LIFE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early in his first term as president, Lyndon B. Johnson found himself caught up in a scandal involving his family\u2019s beagles, named Her and Him. The trouble started when the President was welcoming a group of business leaders at the Rose Garden, and he lifted one of the family pets by its ears, causing the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withoutsanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}