By Jim Fitzgerald, Associated Press, 1/03/02

President Clinton plays with his Buddy at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. (AP File Photo)

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. -- Buddy, the ebullient chocolate retriever who moved from the White House to Chappaqua with President Bill Clinton, was killed by a car near the Clinton home, police said Thursday.

Officer Bruce Cathie of the New Castle police said Buddy was struck Wednesday afternoon in an accident on Route 117, a busy two-lane road at the end of Old House Lane, the cul-de-sac that includes the ex-president's home.

Julia Payne, a Clinton spokeswoman, said neither the ex-president nor his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, was home at the time.

"We are deeply saddened by Buddy's death," the Clintons said in a statement issued by Payne. "He was a loyal companion and brought us much joy. He will truly be missed."

Police said it was unclear whether Buddy was being walked at the time of the accident or had escaped from the Clinton home. He "just darted out in front of a car," said Officer Larry Green. The driver, whose name was not made public, was not at fault, police said.

As the White House dog -- he arrived in Washington as a puppy in 1997 -- Buddy was one of the best known and most photographed pets in the nation, often seen playing on the White House grass or bounding into a helicopter headed for Camp David.

He had a famous uneasy relationship with Socks, the Clintons' cat, and was the victor when the Clintons decided they could only take one with them when they left the White House for smaller quarters. Socks went to live with Clinton's secretary, Betty Currie, in her suburban Virginia home and Buddy came to Chappaqua.

A year ago, in the first couple of weeks of the Clinton ex-presidency, Buddy became a signal dog for the reporters who camped outside the Chappaqua home, hoping to get Clinton to talk about his controversial 11th-hour pardons.

Buddy would emerge unaccompanied from the driveway, past the Secret Service detail, which often meant the former president was behind him, coming out for a walk.

Buddy would occasionally betray a lack of discipline on those walks. He once sniffed out a box of reporters' doughnuts and quickly ate three while licking all the others. And once, when playing fetch with Clinton and a rubber ball, Buddy became entangled in the ex-president's legs and knocked him down in full view of the cameras.

"You guys got a good shot," Clinton said to the press. "That's the first time he's knocked me down in all the time we've been together."