Presidential Pooches - Murray the outlaw of Falahill
Presidential Pooches - Murry the outlaw of Falahill
Murray the Outlaw of Falahill was not this puppy’s original name when he was given to President Franklin D. Roosevelt shortly before Christmas 1940. The Scottish terrior’s name at that time was Big Boy, however FDR quickly determined that was not regal enough for a presidential pooch and renamed him after a Scottish ancestor. Of course calling out Murray the Outlaw of Falahill became pretty tiresome so the puppy soon learned to answer to Fala.
Throughout the war years Fala earned the love of the American people and stories of his generosity toward the war effort and his fierce loyalty to the Country began to crop up in the news.
When rumors he had been left behind in the Aleutian Islands surfaced, FDR quickly asserted they were the folly of Republican Fiction writers along with the further fiction that FDR had sent a fleet of destroyers at a cost of millions to retrieve his beloved dog.
Fala went on to earn the honorary rank of Private in the US Army.
Throughout his time as President and up until his death in 1945, Fala was FDR’s constant companion. Traveling everywhere with the President. The President’s daily breakfast menu always contained a dog bone for Fala.
After FDR’s death in 1945, Fala stayed with Eleanor Roosevelt until his own death in 1952.
Tags: , dogs of Presidents, Fala, FDR, Franklin D Roosevelt dog, Presidential dogs, Presidential pets