President Clinton on the phone with Russian President Boris Yeltsin while Buddy the Dog is in the room, April 4, 1998. Buddy (August 7, 1997 - January 2, 2002), a male chocolate-colored Labrador Retriever, was one of two pets owned by Bill Clinton while he was President of the United States. Clinton acquired Buddy as a 3-month-old puppy in December 1997. He named him after his late great-uncle, Henry Oren "Buddy" Grisham, who had died the previous June and whom Clinton often cited as a major influence on his life. According to the police report, Buddy was killed by a car while "playfully chasing a contractor" who had left the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York, on January 2, 2002.