President Garfield the Cat

From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.

President Garfield the Cat (b. June 19, 1867) was born in the kitchen of world-renowned chef Chef Boyardee. He was booted out for eating the entire refrigerator -- freezer and all -- so he spent most of the year 1868 wandering the countryside looking for an owner. Then he came upon a young man by the name of Jon Arbuckle, who adopted him and his sidekick Odie all in the same day -- February 13, 1869.

He was the shortest person (and the first feline) to win Campaign! in March 1881. His rendition of a song he had penned, "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (which would be unsuccessfully covered in the 1960s by James Brown), won the crowds over, and he chose Arbuckle as his vice president and Odie as his secretary of defense.

Sadly, Garfield was shot on July 2, 1881 by filmmaker Oliver Stone, who would later illegally use his name and likeness for a phenomenally unsuccessful movie.

Trivia

Garfield was the inspiration for the ABC reality TV series, The Cat.