President Lincoln had cats in the White House

[RJNorton]

I tried to find out the source of the statement: “At one point, he told a friend that Dixie was ‘smarter than his entire cabinet’ and ‘didn’t talk back, which was a bonus,’” Mr. Hager said.

Google failed me; or, I failed Googling.

I do not think I have ever seen this quote in a reliable source. I do not think even Hertz carries it. I cannot find it in Lincoln Talks: A Biography in Anecdote. I tried to locate it in Recollected Words but failed. IMO, the quote is most likely apocryphal.