President Calvin Coolidge and wife Grace loved animals. During their time in the White House, their pets were often noted either by their sides or in the backgrounds. But the Coolidges didn’t just have dogs and cats, they had a veritable aviary of birds too – including Enoch, a goose.
The big, white goose was given as a gift to the Coolidges by actress Marie Dressler. At the time, Dressler was performing in a Broadway play aptly titled The Goose Woman. Calvin and Grace Coolidge took the arrival of the goose to be a publicity stunt, and accepted him in good humor and Grace named him Enoch.
The press agent for The Goose Woman swore that Enoch was “worth $100,000.” Likely this was not the case and it’s a good thing if not, as one day someone carelessly left a door open and Enoch escaped and flew off, never to be seen again.
