Turkey pardon: Peach and Blossom must be saved from the chopping block by Biden’s pardon

On By Littum

The strange tradition of pardoning the presidential turkey

A black and white photo of John F Kennedy and other officials with a turkey in front of the White HouseAbbie Rowe, White House Photographs / John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

President John F Kennedy pardons a turkey in front of the White House

Turkey’s pardons can be traced back to President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

Historians claim that he spared the life of a turkey after his son, Tad, befriended it.

But the annual pardon became an “official” tradition under George HW Bush, when the former president pardoned a turkey in 1989 as animal rights activists protested nearby.

“‘Save’, ‘keep him going’ or ‘sorry’: it doesn’t matter to the turkey as long as it doesn’t end up on the president’s holiday table,” he said.

Other presidents before Bush Snr spared bird lives, including President John F Kennedy – who granted an unofficial pardon days before his assassination in 1963.

Many people believe that the custom was started by Harry Truman in 1947 because he was the first president to receive a turkey on behalf of the poultry industry.