What president introduced the jackass to America?

Would that be Harry Truman "in a hailstorm"?

Washington took pride in his, often 'enjoying' watching them. At least one was a gift from the King of Spain.

Waashington didn't really introduce jackasses to America; he just improved the local stock.

In 1495, the ass first appeared in the New World. The four males and two females brought by Christopher Columbus bred to horses gave birth to the mules which the Conquistadors rode as they explored the Americas. Shortly after America won her independence, President George Washington imported the first mammoth jackstock into the young country. Because the Jack donkeys in the New World lacked the size and strength he required to produce quality work mules, he imported donkeys from Spain and France, some standing over 16 hands tall. One of the donkeys Washington received from the Marquis de Lafayette named “Knight of Malta" stood only 14 hands and was regarded as a great disappointment. Viewing this donkey as unfit for producing mules, Washington instead bred The Knight to his Jennets and, in doing so, created an American line of Mammoth Jackstock.


The Spanish brought burros to North America beginning in the late fifteenth century. - Wikipedia