George H. W. Bush was the first U.S. president to formally pardon a turkey, but the heartwarming tradition of sparing birds from the White House holiday table goes back much further than 1989.
Here, a Thanksgiving turkey is being delivered to Warren G. Harding in 1921.Public Domain
He declared: "Let's keep him going." Newspapers then reported that Kennedy had "pardoned" the bird.National Archives and Records Administration
Both, strangely, are dignified. On one side, there is the President of the United States wearing a suit, a tie, and a wide smile. On the other, there is the turkey, white, ruffled, and plump. The White House turkey pardon is a beloved American tradition celebrated every year — but how did it even get started?
The history of the turkey pardon allegedly dates back to Abraham Lincoln. Sent a turkey by a supporter, the president "pardoned" it under pressure from his son. But the White House turkey pardon — as we recognize it today — did not emerge until more than a century later.
Look through the history of the White House turkey pardon in the gallery above and, below, see how this Thanksgiving tradition came into existence.
'I Don't Want Him Killed': Inside The Origin Of The Turkey Pardon
The White House turkey pardon is a beloved part of the American Thanksgiving celebration today. But its origins are purportedly more than a century old and can purportedly be traced to the Lincoln White House.
Shortly after Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, a supporter of the president sent a turkey as a gift. However, as the story goes, Lincoln's 10-year-old son, Tad, adopted it as a pet and named the bird "Jack."
Public DomainAbraham Lincoln purportedly "pardoned" a turkey that had been sent to the family to eat — but which his son Tad adopted as a pet.
On Christmas Eve, when Lincoln tried to gently explain that the bird was to be their Christmas supper, Tad protested. "He's a good turkey, and I don't want him killed," the boy said. And Lincoln, ever a lenient father, bowed to his son's wishes. He even allegedly wrote Jack a card of "reprieve."
But though this may have been the first turkey pardon, if the legend is to be believed, it took time for the tradition to catch on.
Presidents And Turkeys In The 20th Century
According to the White House Historical Association, poultry dealer Horace Vose sent turkeys to the White House from the 1870s until his death in 1913. Others followed suit, and turkey gifts to the White House became a symbol of "good cheer." (The fate of the turkeys, however, is murky.)
It wasn't until the Truman administration that first seeds of the modern turkey pardon were born. After a kerfuffle about a government initiative involving "poultryless Thursdays," Truman became the first president to accept a turkey from the Poultry and Egg National Board and the National Turkey Federation in 1947. This was a way to promote the poultry industry.
But Truman did not pardon the birds, nor did he seem to send them to live on a farm. On the contrary, when the president received two more turkeys in 1948, he remarked that they would "come in handy" for Christmas dinner.
Truman Library InstituteHarry S. Truman and a turkey. Truman was the first president to accept turkeys from the National Turkey Federation, but the birds were likely eaten — not pardoned.
Still, Truman had started something of a tradition. The National Turkey Federation continued to send turkeys to the White House, and presidents began to publicize the gift, often posing with the birds (both dead and alive). Though Dwight D. Eisenhower and his family ate all eight turkeys sent to them, John F. Kennedy sent a turkey gifted to him in 1963 to a farm.
Kennedy had declared, "Let's keep him going." But newspapers reported that the president had "pardoned" the bird.
After Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter accepted Thanksgiving turkeys as gifts (and often dutifully posed alongside them), Ronald Reagan made the "turkey pardon" terminology more formal. In 1987, Reagan quipped that if the turkey wasn't already going to a petting farm, he "would have pardoned him."
But it was Reagan's successor who made the turkey pardon official.
Who Was The First President To Pardon A Turkey?
After decades of presidents posing with turkeys, the White House turkey pardon as we know it began under George H. W. Bush.
In 1989, as animal rights activists protested nearby, Bush offered the first formal turkey pardon by remarking: "[L]et me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone's dinner table, not this guy — he's granted a Presidential pardon as of right now — and allow him to live out his days on a children's farm not far from here."
CSPANGeorge H. W. Bush became the first president to enshrine the turkey pardon tradition in 1989, and his successors have all followed suit.
Bush pardoned a turkey every year of his presidency, and his successors — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden — have all followed suit. Turkeys gifted to the White House are thus sent to live out their days at petting farms, but sadly, most of them don't survive very long. Fattened for Thanksgiving, they usually have short lives.
Still, the birds who star in presidential turkey pardons have their moment in the spotlight. And they get to enjoy their final days on a farm — avoiding the fate of being eaten for Thanksgiving.
After reading about the history of the White House turkey pardon, learn something new with these fascinating facts about every single U.S. president. Or, look through these photos of U.S. presidents when they were young.
