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That Time A President Had a Foul-Mouthed Parrot

Heyo! I took March off for mental health, but I am back! If you follow me on Tumblr, you know it wasn't planned. What started as a week off became an entire month, but I'm not here to talk about it. Today's post is about US president, Andrew Jackson's foul-mouthed parrot.

Andrew Jackson purchased an African Grey Parrot from Decker & Dyer in Nashville on June 5, 1827, for $25 (worth $760 today). The parrot who was named Poll was a gift for Jackson's wife, Rachel. Rachel passed away the following year of a heart attack so newly elected President Jackson became Poll's caretaker.

Now this is when I admit my research fell short because not much is known about Poll other than an incident at Jackson's funeral in 1945. It is said that Poll "squawked, squeaked and swore like a sailor" when Jackson died. This has been one of my favorite stories from history because I, myself love birds, and the thought of a bird who swears is so funny.

An African Grey Parrot (Not actually Poll)

Reverend William Menefee Norment claims that at Jackson's funeral, "Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house". Poll had to be removed from Jackson's funeral because the bird "let loose perfect gusts of cuss words" and the people attending the funeral were "horrified and awed at the bird's lack of reverence".

Can you imagine? NOW no one knows for sure how Poll became so foul-mouthed, but I think it's safe to say, they learned such language from Jackson, himself. The man was known to be quite the loose canon.

In my research I couldn't find out what happened to Poll after Jackson's death, but I assume the parrot lived at The Hermitage, Jackson's home, until it died. African Greys can live up to 80 years, so I hope Poll lived a long and very lovely life.

Poll wasn't the only presidential pet bird. There have been numerous and if you'd like me to write about the history of presidential pets, let me know! I find it so interesting as there's been so many animals in and out of the White House.

If you enjoyed learning about Andrew Jackson's foul-mouthed parrot, Poll, please check out my other "That Time..." posts! And if you have any other weird moments in history that interest you, drop them in the comments! I'm always looking for new things to learn and write about. Have a great week!

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