Liberty (dog)
Honor's Foxfire Liberty Hume was the Golden Retriever Presidential pet of Betty Ford and Gerald Ford. Liberty was born February 8, 1974 and given to the president as an 8-month-old puppy by his daughter Susan Ford and new White House photographer David Hume Kennerly in the fall of 1974. The breeder of the dark gold pup was Ann Friberg of Mount Vernon, Washington.
Liberty was frequently photographed with Ford in the Oval Office, in the swimming pool at Camp David and on the South Lawn of the White House. She also had a litter of pups in the White House on September 14, 1975, one of which - Misty - was kept by Ford. At one point Ford was locked in a White House stairwell after returning from walking the dog on the South Lawn early one morning. Photographs of the dog were autographed with a rubber stamp of her paw print. Stories indicated that if Ford wanted to end a conversation in the Oval Office he would signal Liberty and she would go to the guest wagging her tail creating a natural break.
Ford discussed the dog in a speech on October 9, 1974 in a tribute to William Scranton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
