Sara and Fala Roosevelt

Fraklin D Roosevelt asked that if a monument were to be erected in his honour, that it be no larger than the desk he was seated at. Sure enough, his memorial is the exact size of his desk...that is, until they built the 7.5 acre memorial in 1997. That's okay though, he deserved it.

Sara is talking to FDR's little Scottish Terrier, Fala. Actually, FDR named him Murray the Outlaw of Falahill, but the nickname seemed to roll off the tongue a little better. Fala was with FDR all the time, sleeping on the floor in the Oval Office, and taking flights on FDR's plane, the Sacred Cow. Republican opponents at one time accused President Roosevelt of having sent a US Navy destroyer to the Aleutian islands with the sole purpose of retrieving Fala who had been accidentally left there. FDR vehemently denied this having ocurred and gave an irate speech saying that people are welcome to insult him and his wife, but have gone too far when they take jabs at his dog, who's tender Scottish feelings had been hurt. Little Fala outlived President Roosevelt, but when Fala died, Eleanor saw to it that he was buried next to President Roosevelt.