Of all Barry H．Landau's anecdotes about his friendships with presidential dogs,perhaps the best is the one about the time the Clinton White House called to postpone his play-date with Buddy．
Yes,Landau is both human and an adult,a 60-year-old author,presidential historian,former White House protocol officer and memorabilia collector．But so enamored is he of dogs,and so well connected to a succession of presidents,that he had an appointment for a South Lawn romp one day with Buddy,Bill Clinton's Labrador retriever(拉布拉多犬).
Logistics got in the way,though,and hence Clinton secretary Betty Currie's apologetic voice mail left at the Smithsonian Institution,where Landau was doing research:"I'm sorry,but we'll have to reschedule Mr．Landau's play-date with Buddy."
Not surprisingly,this is a happy week for Landau,with the new Obama family dog,Bo,joining a White House tradition that dates to George Washington．It's one that Landau feels is invaluable to a presidency.
"Having a dog just humanizes a president,"he says．"It completes the picture．It's something people can relate to."
And Landau has related to the best of them．He's known about 25 White House dogs since the Eisenhower administration．Among the presidential-pooch memorabilia in his Manhattan apartment are matching orange inaugural dog coats worn by LBJ's twin beagles(小猎犬),Him and Her,and a photo of Landau kissing Clipper,JFK's German shepherd.
According to Landau,why is it important for a president to have a dog?
第五段。Landau说，总统养狗会使总统更显人性化，使总统的形象更完美，也很容易把人们与总统联系起来。
