Back When?

Back When? Back When? The story of the White House turkey pardon dates back to the Civil War, when Abraham Lincoln’s son Tad allegedly asked his father to spare a turkey from the holiday meal. President Lincoln obliged, pardoning Jack the turkey. Turkeys have been presented to American presidents since 1870, however, the official presentation of a turkey to the president didn't kick off until 1947 - with the National Turkey Federation given the responsibility of rearing the birds. President Harry S. Truman becomes the first president to receive a turkey in an official ceremony in 1947. President Harry S. Truman has been frequently credited as being the first to pardon turkeys—but he planned to eat them, not save them. “The Library’s staff has found no documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs, or other contemporary records in our holdings which refer to Truman pardoning a turkey at any time during his Presidency,” the Truman Library said in 2003. John F. Kennedy was the first president to unofficially pardon a turkey. According to NPR, “The first documented reprieve of a turkey during a turkey presentation from the Turkey Federation was in 1963. A sign hung around a turkey's neck that read, ‘Good eating, Mr. President.’ So clearly the intent was for the president to eat it. But Kennedy, for what ever reason, said, ‘We’ll just let this one grow.’ The L.A. Times headlined that 1963 event as a ‘presidential pardon.’ But it certainly wasn’t official.” Subsequent presidents did receive turkeys from the National Turkey Federation, but what they did with them varied by year. Patricia Nixon would graciously accept turkeys on behalf of the President, and in 1973, she sent one to the Oxon Hill Children's Farm. The 1978 turkey, gifted to First Lady Rosalynn Carter, was also relocated to live in a mini zoo at Evans Farm Inn. It wasn't until George H.W. Bush's administration that pardoning turkeys became a formal tradition. In a Thanksgiving proclamation, on Nov. 17, 1989, Bush said: “Let me assure you and this fine tom turkey,” Bush said, “that he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this President John F. Kennedy and Senator Everett M. Dirksen receive a Thanksgiving turkey from the Poultry and Egg National Board at the White House, November 19, 1963. Waddle and Gobble, wait in their room a day ahead of their Thanksgiving holiday pardoning at the White House. guy—he’s presented a presidential pardon as of right now—and allow him to live out his days on a children’s farm not far from here.” All subsequent presidents have participated suit. Gobble and Waddle were pardoned by President Donald Trump this year during the 78th National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation.