The annual presidential turkey pardon has become a November tradition—a truly American one, much like the Thanksgiving meal itself. Every year, during Thanksgiving week, the U.S. President appears at the White House alongside a live turkey, or sometimes two, with funny names like "Butter" and "Bread," or "Corn" and "Kernel." Officially, they "save" the birds from becoming part of the holiday feast. However, the history of this ceremony is more complex than one might imagine. Presidents began taking photos with turkeys in 1947, when the National Turkey Federation and the National Egg Board first presented a turkey to President Harry Truman for Thanksgiving. Yet, according to the Truman Library, there are no documents or evidence that Truman pardoned any birds. The library notes: "Truman was sometimes heard to tell reporters that the turkey he received was intended for the family's dinner table."
The modern tradition of the annual turkey pardon began more than 40 years later, during the administration of George H.W. Bush, on November 17, 1989, according to the White House. At the time, Bush, referring to the bird named "Jerry," said: "But let me assure you, and this fine turkey, that he will not end up on anyone's dinner table. Not this turkey—he has been granted a presidential pardon as of right now—and he will be taken to a farm for children not far from here." In that moment, Bush formalized something that had been happening irregularly during Thanksgiving week under presidents for over a century. Since presidents often received a turkey as a gift in November, some would discuss eating the bird, while others would unofficially pledge to pardon it.
The first documented case of a U.S. president "pardoning" a turkey during a Thanksgiving dinner dates back to 1863 and President Abraham Lincoln. When a turkey was served to Lincoln for Christmas dinner, his 8-year-old son, Tad, intervened to prevent it. Tad had joined his father at the White House in 1861 and had become attached to the bird, whom he named "Jack." Lincoln, an animal lover himself who had several cats at the White House, acquiesced to his son's request. This occurred in the same year that Lincoln issued the Thanksgiving Proclamation as a national event on the last Thursday of November, in an attempt to promote unity during the Civil War.
President John F. Kennedy also unofficially pardoned a turkey in the Rose Garden on November 19, 1963, just three days before his assassination in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy, regarding the 55-pound bird wearing a sign that read "Good eating, Mr. President," said, "Let's keep him alive." This is considered the first modern turkey pardon.
"Time"
Reagan first used the term "pardon"
More than two decades after Kennedy's turkey pardon, Ronald Reagan was the first president to use the term "pardon" when he spared a turkey named "Charlie," though it was in jest. At the time, Reagan was trying to draw attention away from a scandal that had rocked his administration. When reporters asked Reagan at the turkey ceremony if he would pardon those involved in the scandal, he refused to answer, but he drew laughter by saying, "If the question has to do with Charlie and his future, I'll pardon him."
