Famous Maine Summer Dog Was Too Heavy

Famous Kennebunkport Summer Resident Got Too Chubby, Says Ex-White House Chief Usher

By Ted Cohen

A longtime top White House official’s top memory of George H.W. Bush: his obese dog.

If the Bush family fancies their first of two presidents being remembered for major policy achievements, we've got some bad news.

A four-decade White House employee says his memory of the senior Bush will be the-then president warning staff to stop giving Ranger treats.

Ranger, who spent time at the Bush compound in Kennebunkport and was often seen with the president during summers, was apparently getting too fat in the early 1990s.

Gary Walters, who managed the president’s official residence for 37 years, is sharing his most vivid recollections in a new book called “White House Memories 1970 - 2007.”

Walters, who started working in the White House under President Nixon as part of the executive protective-service detail, holds the distinction of being the longest-ever-serving chief usher at the White House.

In his book, Walters talks about his memories of President Reagan's detente with the Soviet Union, President Clinton's begging the Secret Service to let him go jogging in the streets of Washington, D.C., and the difficult 9/11 days of the second President Bush.

But Walters’ lasting memory of the senior Bush was a memo that the president wrote to staffers telling them to lay off the treats for Ranger.

“Walters came to know the domestic habits of the most powerful people on earth better than anyone else,” The Guardian reports. “When asked, his team would help look after presidential pets.”

Walters writes, “President George H.W. Bush at one point sent out a memo to his staff that they had to stop feeding the dog treats, that Ranger was putting on a few too many pounds.”

Bush wrote the memo February 6, 1992:

“All offices should take a formal pledge. ‘We agree not to feed Ranger. We will not give him biscuits. We will not give him food of any kind.’”

Ranger, who had full run of the Bush compound, was pictured once in 1991 sitting in a golf cart on the grounds.

He apparently should have spent more time doing what Clinton did to fight off the pounds - running.

In the final analysis, Ranger’s weight problems may have been too convenient a distraction for Bush, who lost to Clinton just months after the springer spaniel’s obesity was the one thing a former chief usher remembers about his single-term presidency.

1991, Kennebunkport, Maine