Rebecca

Rebecca the raccoon was Calvin Coolidge's most unusual pet — and she had her own custom-built house on the White House grounds.

Calvin Coolidge was a man of few words, but he loved animals. He and his wife Grace kept an astonishing collection of pets at the White House: dogs, cats, birds, a bobcat, a wallaby, a pygmy hippopotamus, and — most famously — a raccoon named Rebecca.

Rebecca was originally intended to be part of the Coolidge family's Thanksgiving dinner. A farmer sent her to the White House as a gift. But Grace Coolidge took one look at the tiny raccoon and decided she couldn't be eaten. Instead, she became a cherished pet.

Rebecca had the run of the White House. She loved to explore, and she was particularly fond of untying shoes and stealing shiny objects. The Coolidges were so devoted to her that they had a special outdoor house built for her on the White House grounds, complete with a little pool and a climbing tree.

Rebecca even joined the family for formal occasions. She was walked on a leash, attended Easter egg rolls, and was a favorite of the White House photographers. When the Coolidges left Washington in 1929, Rebecca went with them to their home in Massachusetts, where she lived a happy raccoon life.