President Obama grants the traditional Thanksgiving pardon to Popcorn
2013 Official White House Turkey
Each year before Thanksgiving, the President of the United
States “pardons” a live turkey presented to him by the National Turkey
Federation (NTF). The gifts have been going on for over a century, but it
wasn’t until recently that the turkey pardon became an official White House
tradition.
There are many stories surrounding the origin of the presidential
turkey pardon. Some say the tradition can be traced as far back as 1863, when
by some accounts, President Lincoln interrupted a Cabinet meeting to grant
clemency to a turkey named “Jack” his son had befriended. An 1865 dispatch by a
White House reporter later confirmed this version noting, “Tad’s plea was
admitted and the turkey’s life spared.”
Records show, however, that official gifts of turkeys to American presidents
date from the 1870’s, when a marketing-savvy Rhode Island poultry dealer named Horace
Vose began sending birds to the White House. In 1873, Vose delivered a 38-pound
stunner to President Ulysses S. Grant. Vose went on to supply turkeys to
presidents for over forty years, becoming a national celebrity.
By the 1920’s, turkey gifts began taking on a whole new flavor. Chicago’s Harding Girls Club sent a turkey to
President Warren Harding in 1921 dressed in a custom-made flying suit complete
with goggles. The bird arrived at the College Park airport on a mail plane
escorted by an armed guard. Another turkey arrived in 1922 in a crate designed as a battleship.
Harry Truman was not the first president to pardon a turkey,
but many stories have him originating the tradition. In the year 1947 at Thanksgiving, Truman was urging Americans
to conserve food in an effort called “Poultry-Less Thursday.” Poultry growers were outraged and in protest sent crates of lives chickens dubbed “Hens
for Harry” to the White House. The stunt
grabbed headlines. Though records show Truman did not eat turkey that particular
year, in December of 1948, he accepted two turkeys and was heard to remark they
would “come in handy” for Christmas dinner.
President John F. Kennedy is known to have spared a turkey,
but his decision was not due to a love for the bird. Kennedy received a
Thanksgiving turkey from the Poultry and Egg National Board with a sign around
its neck reading “Good Eatin’ Mr. President.” Kennedy sent the bird back to the
farm saying, “We’ll let this one grow.”
President Ronald Reagan is the first president on record to formally
issue a “pardon” to a turkey; in this case a turkey named Charlie, who was sent
to him in 1987 from a petting zoo. Some say, however, the reprieve was a joke made
to deflect criticism over his considering a presidential pardon of Iran-Contra player Oliver North.
It was George H. W. Bush who, in 1989, made the turkey
pardon an official White House tradition. Rumor has it that he did this in
response to animal rights activists picketing nearby. He said,
“Reprieve,” “keep him going,” or “pardon”: it’s all the same for the turkey, as long as
he doesn’t end up on the president’s holiday table.
Whatever the reason, turkeys have been pardoned ever since
and taken to farms to live out the rest of their natural lives. For many years
the birds were sent to Frying Pan Park in Fairfax, Virginia. Other “farms” have included Disneyland and
Walt Disney World Resorts where the turkeys have served as marshals in the annual
Thanksgiving parade.
Today’s Tradition
The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation and pardon
take place in the White House Rose Garden every year shortly before Thanksgiving. In an official ceremony, the president is
presented with a live domestic turkey and issues a pardon.
Posted by Carole Funger
#turkeypardon #WhiteHouseturkeypardon #turkey
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