The Pet Goat "The Pet Goat" (often erroneously called "My Pet Goat") is an educational short story written by Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann. It was being read by US President George W. Bush and a class of second-graders during the September 11 attacks in 2001.__NOTOC__ Background The story was written by Siegfried "Zig" Engelmann who, by 2004, did not remember it among the 1000+ he had written since the 1970s. In 2001, "The Pet Goat" was included in the classroom workbook Reading Mastery: Rainbow Edition, Level 2, Storybook 1; it is designed to teach students about words ending in the letter E. The story tells of a girl's pet goat whose future is uncertain because it eats everything, but after it foils a robbery by butting the intruder, the girl's parents allow the goat to stay. The story and its workbook attracted attention after the release of Michael Moore's documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11. Engelmann, a retired professor by 2004, had not seen the film and was surprised at the attention his story received: "It hasn't brought me any fame, […] It's fascinating that anyone would even be interested in something like this." George W. Bush during the September 11 attacks On September 11, 2001, US President George W. Bush went to Emma E. Booker Elementary School to meet students and staff and to bring attention to his plans for education reform. Upon arriving at the Sarasota, Florida school, the president was informed of the first plane crash into One World Trade Center, though he was briefed that it was probably just a small propeller plane. While President Bush sat in Kay Daniels' classroom, and her students read "The Pet Goat", White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card interrupted the president to whisper in his ear: "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack." Afterwards, the children continued to read and President Bush sat while—as described by The Wall Street Journal—"trying to keep under tight control." Despite the president's efforts, students knew something was wrong; they later said that the president's face became red and serious, and his expression was "flabbergasted, shocked, [and] horrified". According to Bill Sammon's book Fighting Back, Bush's gaze flitted about the room—the children, the press, the floor, his staff—while his mind raced about everything he did not yet know. After receiving cue-card advice from his press secretary, Ari Fleischer ("DON'T SAY ANYTHING YET"), the "notoriously punctual" president lingered in the classroom after the reading exercise was finished: he adamantly did not want to give an appearance of panic. After chatting with the students and their teacher, Bush deflected a Trade Center-related question from a reporter, and began to learn about the magnitude of the attacks. Analysis The New Yorker described a seven-minute video of President Bush holding Reading Mastery while "staring blankly into space" as the most memorable bit in Fahrenheit 9/11; the film presents the president as faltering in the face of the crisis. The commander-in-chief's supporters argued that there was nothing for Bush to do but wait for more information while not alarming the pupils. On his own behalf, Bush said that "his instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see an excited reaction at a moment of crisis. The national press corps was standing behind the children in the classroom; he saw their phones and pagers start to ring. The president felt he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening." Booker Elementary Principal Tose-Rigell supported the president's reactions at her school—"I don't think anyone could have handled it better. What would it