By Sevanah Sandoval
As October comes to a close and the November school break nears, Thanksgiving is on the minds of many. Whether people are starting to plan the dinners they will host or just passing an array of themed decor in Target, the inevitable thoughts of Thanksgiving typically include turkeys because of how heavily tied they are with American Thanksgiving traditions.
One such tradition takes place in the White House, in which the president pardons a turkey from being eaten in a Thanksgiving meal. This turkey is selected by the chairperson of the National Turkey Federation’s home state, and the event is aired on various news stations, making it moderately well known among the American population. Lesser known, however, is when and how this tradition began.
According to the Library of Congress, the first time a turkey was pardoned by a president was all the way back in 1863. Upon the urging of his son to spare the life of a turkey he wanted to keep as a pet, Abraham Lincoln became the first president to pardon a turkey from being eaten in any Thanksgiving meals. However, this did not become an annual affair until much later.
There are many supposed beginnings of the pardon turkey tradition. One common misconception is that former president Harry Truman was the first to start the official tradition. This belief stems from the fact that he was the first to be involved in the annual ceremony in which the Poultry and Egg National Board and the National Turkey Federation present the president with two turkeys for the White House’s Thanksgiving festivities. Though the first turkey pardon would take place during this ceremony in later years, Truman did not actually pardon the turkeys he received. In fact, the government was facing backlash at that time for the suggestion of “poultry-less” Thursdays in the midst of the holiday season. Needless to say, when Truman was presented with his turkey, it was used in the White House’s holiday affairs instead of being pardoned.
The official beginning of the turkey pardoning tradition was in 1989 by former President Geaorge H. W. Bush. When Bush was presented with turkeys from the Poultry and Egg National Board and the National Turkey Federation, he surprised viewers of the annual ceremony by declaring it would not be found on a dinner table, rather it would be “granted a presidential pardon as of right now.” After the ceremony, Bush ordered that the turkey be sent to a farm to live out its life peacefully.
Today, the presidential turkey pardoning is an annual tradition. Since Bush’s pardon, the American public has been able to vote on the names of the turkeys that the president is presented with each year. Though some have had names that have clear ties to patriotism, such as “Stars” and “Stripes,” the two turkeys that President Biden pardoned last year were named “Chocolate” and “Chip.”
This year, the turkeys will be supplied by Jennie-O Turkey Store in Minnesota and flown to the White House for the ceremony. Until then, we can wait for their names to be announced and two more turkeys to be spared from American dinner tables.
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