Buddy Clinton is no more. The former First Dog, as we all know by now, was killed last week in a road accident outside the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York. There is, however, at least one more Buddy Clinton out there. We gave Buddy a call to get his thoughts on the passing of his namesake.

Q: Can you tell me a little about yourself?

A: I’m from Puxico — P-U-X-I-C-O — Missouri. I’m 36, lived here 36 years. I work at Mingo Job Corporation, a youth-training program.

Q: Are you related to the Clintons?

A: No. I do have family that way. I never did a family tree, so I don’t know. There could be a connection, I guess — we live next door, state-wise.

Q: Is Buddy your real name?

A: My real name is Wendell, but I’ve been Buddy, gosh, ever since I was a little kid. Everyone knows me as Buddy.

Q: Were you a supporter of Bill Clinton?

A: I was. I thought he knew what he was doing as far as running the government. His private life was his private life, none of my business.

Q: How did you feel when you learned that he’d named his dog after you?

A: It was kind of weird. It just felt really odd. What are the chances of that happening? It was one of those one-in-a-million shots. I should’ve played the lottery that day.

Q: Was it a proud moment?

A: It wasn’t a proud moment. I figured it’d cause me grief as far as harassment goes. I didn’t have a problem with it or anything, but I figured I’d catch a bunch of grief over it.

Q: Did you?

A: I got a lot of jokes. I got harassed all the time anyway. Actually, at the center where I work we have a man with the last name Bush and a man with the last name Clinton, which is me. When they were campaigning, there was a lot of ribbing about that. But it was all done in fun. No one ever got serious.

Q: What did people say about you and Buddy?

A: "How does it feel being named after a dog?" and "Fetch!" That kind of stuff. It wasn’t done in a mean way — just playing. Everybody thought it was funny.

Q: And there would be headlines like BUDDY CLINTON TO BE NEUTERED in the papers. How did that feel?

A: That was weird. You’d open up the evening newspaper and there’s your name plastered everywhere — "Buddy Clinton goes to obedience training" — but they’re talking about a dog.

Q: In general, was it a positive thing that you shared a name with the president’s dog?

A: I think it was a positive thing. Every time you get your name out there it helps, and people could relate to that, you know? It was kind of neat to keep up with him.

Q: How did you feel when you heard Buddy had died?

A: I was at home reading the paper. I guess you feel a little grief. It was sad, that it had to come to an end like that. You hate to see an animal get run over and killed. As a dog owner, I can relate. Sad.

Q: At least now your life might return to normal.

A: Yeah, I’m sure it will. It feels good to be the one and only Buddy Clinton. But it was kind of neat, having that connection. That stuff doesn’t happen every day, even though Buddy was just a dog.

Issue Date: January 10 - 17, 2002

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