page_title: Holstein Friesian cattle
section_title: Presidential cow
hierarchical_section_title: Holstein Friesian cattle / United States / Presidential cow
caption_attribution_description: President William Howard Taft's cow, Pauline, poses in front of the Navy Building, which is known today as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Pauline was the last cow to live at the White House and provided milk for President Taft (1909-13).
context_page_description: Holstein Friesians are a breed of dairy cattle originating from the Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany. They are known as the world's highest-production dairy animals.
  The Dutch and German breeders bred and oversaw the development of the breed with the goal of obtaining animals that could best use grass, the area's most abundant resource. Over the centuries, the result was a high-producing, black-and-white dairy cow.
  The Holstein-Friesian is the most widespread cattle breed in the world; it is present in more than 150 countries. With the growth of the New World, markets began to develop for milk in North America and South America, and dairy breeders turned to the Netherlands for their livestock. After about 8,800 Friesians had been imported, disease problems in Europe led to the cessation of exports to markets abroad.
  In Europe, the breed is used for milk in the north, and meat in the south. Since 1945, European national development has led to cattle breeding and dairy products becoming increasingly regionalized.
context_section_description: Perhaps the most famous Holstein was Pauline Wayne, which served from 1910 to 1913 as the official presidential pet to the 27th President of the United States, William Howard Taft. Pauline Wayne lived and grazed on the White House lawn and provided milk for the first family. Pauline Wayne was the last presidential pet cow.
caption: President William Howard Taft's cow, Pauline, in front of the Navy Building, which is known today as the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
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