Socks, the First Pet under Bill Clinton, now ailing

Washington — Two famous figures in the Bill Clinton White House — his personal secretary and ailing pet cat, Socks — are back in the public eye.

Clinton secretary Betty Currie is working for John D. Podesta, co-chairman of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition, at the same time reports surfaced that her adopted pet Socks has cancer.

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Marcy Nighswander/AP file

Socks the cat peers over the podium in the White House briefing room in this 1994 photo. Socks, now 19, is owned by former Clinton secretary Betty Currie and is reportedly ailing with cancer.

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“It’s not a happy prognosis,” said presidential historian Barry Landau, a friend of Currie’s. Although Currie opted against invasive tests, Landau believes Socks has “days or weeks” to live.

Currie is remembered for picking up from Monica Lewinsky gifts that the former president had given the White House intern in 1997. Currie later testified during investigations into Clinton’s affair.

Currie went to the Clinton White House after serving in his transition, but it was unclear whether she would follow a similar path with Obama.

Socks has lived with Currie since the Clintons left the White House. The black-and-white cat didn’t get along with the Clintons’ dog, Buddy, and aggravated the president’s allergies.