The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and visiting heads of state or government. Until 2003, the Secret Service was part of the Department of the Treasury, as the agency was founded in 1865 to combat the then-widespread counterfeiting of U.S. currency. President Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation on April 14, 1865, just a few hours before he was assassinated. In 1901, the Secret Service was also assigned to presidential protection duties.
The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta, referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Force Green, is a special operations force of the United States Army, under operational control of JSOC. The unit's missions primarily involve counterterrorism, hostage rescue, direct action, and special reconnaissance, often against high-value targets.
Most United States presidents have kept pets while in office, or pets have been part of their families. Only James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Donald Trump did not have any presidential pets while in office. However, Johnson did take care of some mice he found in his bedroom.
The phrase man bites dog is a shortened version of an aphorism in journalism that describes how an unusual, infrequent event is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar consequences, such as a dog biting a man.
The nuclear football is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the president of the United States to communicate and authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room or the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. Functioning as a mobile hub in the strategic defense system of the United States, the football is carried by a military aide when the President is traveling.
Ronald Alan Klain is an American attorney, political consultant, and former lobbyist who served as White House chief of staff under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2023.
Lloyd James Austin III is a retired United States Army four-star general who has served as the 28th and current United States secretary of defense since January 22, 2021.
Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden is an American educator who has been the first lady of the United States since 2021 as the wife of President Joe Biden. She was the second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 when her husband was vice president. Since 2009, she has been a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College, and is believed to be the first wife of a vice president or president to hold a salaried position during the majority of her husband's tenure.
Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, has family members who are prominent in law, education, activism and politics. Biden's immediate family became the first family of the United States on his inauguration on January 20, 2021. His immediate family circle was also the second family of the United States from 2009 to 2017, when Biden was vice president. Biden's family is mostly descended from the British Isles, with most of their ancestors coming from Ireland and England, and a smaller number descending from the French.
Jennifer Rene Psaki is an American television political analyst and former government official. A political advisor who served under both the Obama and Biden administrations, she served the Biden administration as the 34th White House press secretary until May 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009); the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011); the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015); and the White House communications director (2015–2017). Psaki was a political contributor for CNN from 2017 to 2020. As of March 2023, she hosts the talk-show Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC.
Sunny is a pet dog of the Obama family, the 44th presidential family of the United States. Sunny is a female Portuguese Water Dog who was a First Dog of the United States along with Bo. Sunny was introduced via First Lady Michelle Obama's Twitter account on August 19, 2013.
John F. Kirby is a retired United States Navy rear admiral serving as White House National Security Communications Advisor since 2024. He previously served in the Biden administration as Pentagon Press Secretary and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs from 2021 to 2022 and as Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House from 2022 to 2024. He worked as a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN from 2017 to 2021. He served in the Obama administration as Pentagon Press Secretary from 2013 to 2015 and as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 2015 to 2017.
Kaitlan Collins is an American journalist who is a news anchor on CNN. She is the former co-anchor of CNN This Morning. She is the current host of The Source at 9 p.m. since July 2023. She also served as the network's Chief White House Correspondent from January 2021 until November 2022. Previously, she was the White House correspondent for the website The Daily Caller.
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president for two terms under President Barack Obama, took office following his victory in the 2020 presidential election over Republican incumbent president Donald Trump. Upon his inauguration, he became the oldest president in American history, breaking the record set by his predecessor Trump. Biden entered office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization.
Champ was a German Shepherd owned by Joe Biden's family. He joined them in living at the White House in 2021. Champ was the older of the two German Shepherds the Bidens owned at the start of his presidency. The younger German Shepherd was Major.
Major is a German Shepherd owned by Joe Biden's family. Major, who was born in 2018, is the first shelter dog to live in the White House. Previously, President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie had owned two German Shepherds.
Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, has been in the national spotlight for over half a century, ever since he won his first election to the United States Senate in 1972. During his long tenure in the Senate, Biden was seen as a figure with the tendency to commit gaffes. He has been associated with working-class politics during his career, having been raised in a working-class family. His capacity for empathy has been noted, as has his tendency for exaggeration. A long-standing parody of Biden by The Onion, popular during his time as Barack Obama's vice president, is thought to have contributed positively to his public image. Biden's approval ratings as president have overall been highly polarized, with mixed support from Democrats and almost complete opposition from Republicans.
The United States Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan on 30 August 2021, marking the end of the 2001–2021 war. In February 2020, the Trump administration and the Taliban signed the United States–Taliban deal in Doha, Qatar, which stipulated fighting restrictions for both the US and the Taliban, and provided for the withdrawal of all NATO forces from Afghanistan in return for the Taliban's counter-terrorism commitments. The deal, and then the Biden administration's final decision in April 2021 to pull out all US troops by September 2021 without leaving a residual force, were the two critical events that triggered the start of the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks on the Taliban at the detriment of the ANSF fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul on 15 August 2021.
Major, a German Shepherd, was a presidential pet belonging to United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Dale Haney is an American gardener who is the superintendent of the White House grounds. In 2022, he celebrated his 50th anniversary tending to the 18 acres of White House gardens and grounds. He has also taken responsibility to walk presidential dogs from Richard Nixon's Irish Setter King Timahoe to Joe Biden's German Shepherd Commander.
