Turkeys Get Presidential Pardons Live Luxurious Lives

WEveryone knows where most turkeys end up on Thanksgiving. But for a lucky couple, a presidential pardon will save them from the table.

The president’s turkey pardon is a crazy American tradition some historians go back to President Harry Truman. The president of the National Turkey Federation, an organization that advocates on behalf of the turkey industry, gets the opportunity to oversee the presidential flock, and for current chairman John Zimmerman, it is an “honor” to raise the birds.

And while they may not realize it, it’s also an honor for the two lucky birds: “There are about 40 million turkeys eaten on Thanksgiving,” says Zimmerman, a second-generation turkey farmer based in Northfield, Minn. “Only two are pardoned.”

Zimmerman represents more than 2,500 turkey farms across the United States and raises about 4 million pounds of turkeys annually. But the lives of the birds on their way to a presidential pardon are particularly luxurious. The turkeys, who grew up with polka music and AC/DC, per Zimmerman, will also enjoy a lavish lodging experience during their stay at the Willard InterContinental, just blocks from the White House, in Washington, DC

TIME spoke with Zimmerman by phone mid-November about raising the birds and the special treatment they receive when they are selected for a presidential pardon. The following conversation has been easy edited for length and clarity.

TIME: Do you know when the presidential turkey pardon tradition began?

Zimmerman: The Truman administration was the first year the National Turkey Federation presented a turkey to the president. It was clear that the bird at that point had to be devoured. Before that, for the story of a president pardoning the turkey, people will go back to Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was given a turkey as a gift and his son, Tad, begged his father not to kill the turkey and made it a pet. That’s where the pardon comes from. But George Bush Sr. was the first president to officially pardon the bird. Over time they have been sent to children’s zoos. For a while they were sent to Disney World and they were in the parade.

When did you start raising this particular presidential crowd?

These birds hatched in mid-July. They will be about 18 weeks by Thanksgiving week, fully grown males at that time.

Why should you grow that specific flock separately from the rest of them?

Because the birds have to be at the pardon ceremony on the south lawn, and there are people wandering around, kids yelling and screaming, flashing light bulbs going off, and we have to take the turkey and put it on the table.

Obviously, we don’t want the turkey flapping around scratching the president or anyone else, so we have to make sure these birds are used to being around people. They are not pets by any means. Every day we go in there and we interact more with them. We pick them up, we make sure their feathers are good and clean. We try to get them used to people, used to the limelight. We play music for them, make sure they’re exposed to different lights, so if a photographer comes and takes a picture and there’s a flash, we don’t want them to get scared and flinch away because there’s been cases over the years where a bird has gotten a little unruly and flapped the president or someone else. We obviously don’t want that to happen, so we’re just trying to make them calm and a little more docile for the White House presentation.

Can you talk a little bit more about the process of choosing the presidential pardon turkeys?

We started with a flock of 44. You really don’t start doing a selection process until the last three or four weeks, but it’s based on the temperament of the birds. There are some birds that are more aggressive than others. Obviously, you want a bird that isn’t afraid of people, but you also don’t want a bird that will come up and attack you.

At the pardon ceremony, we usually place the turkey up on a table, so you want a bird that can sit on that table and not flutter around and get excited. So we put them on a table and just see how long they want to sit there. And then (we consider) their plumage. Birds with nicer feathers have a leg up on the others. I have 20 left and it’s basically about which ones have the prettiest feathers and are the best looking birds. And among them we choose the best two to take DC

What kind of special treatment do they get?

Chairmen from previous years, we always give each other tips and tricks, and some years they say, ‘Oh, they like country music better. They like rock music better.’ I’m more of a classic rock guy, so we started them off with classic rock. But from a country area, there are a few polka (radio) channels out there, so on certain days we listen to polka and they’ve been listening to country. It’s just to get them used to background noise.

We also have a little projector that projects laser beams on the wall that is synchronized with the music, kind of a pulsing disco thing, and it’s about getting them used to sudden movements, sudden sounds, flash bulbs, getting kids to come. up and interact with the birds.

I know some people even brought their pets in there so they are used to pets. But it’s all in an effort to make sure they become docile birds and don’t get scared when they’re on the big stage.

I personally found that there is no particular music they really like, but I had my son select a station on our Alexa smart speaker to play patriotic music and I think Taps and Reveille came on and they really perked up when they heard bugle music. I don’t know if it’s the note or the pitch of a bugle, but they all started chattering to it. Then we got the idea, maybe we can get them to swallow on the tip, for Hail to the Chief. So we’ve been working on that, but we haven’t had much success.

It’s so exciting. In terms of the rock music you played for them, is there a particular artist you tried?

I’m a fan of AC/DC and Metallica, so they get a big dose of that. There has not been one specific thing in which they have shown more interest than another, other than the bugle or the trumpet music.

Do you have any idea what you want to name the two birds?

I don’t get to name the birds. At the Minnesota State Fair we had a naming contest and at some agricultural leadership meetings we had a box where people could submit names. We send these names to the president (Biden), but ultimately it is the president’s job to name the birds. Last year he chose Liberty and Bell. Pop and corn, caramel and corn, peas and carrots, chocolate and chips have been some of the names in the past.

At what point will you know which couple you want to take to the White House?

They get driven out in a minivan (to DC) It’s a 16-hour drive. We put the birds in the back of the minivan on a bed of shavings, and they walk around the vehicle a bit freely. (Someone) will pick them up several days before the ceremony. And I would think that less than 24 hours before then, we will probably choose the last two.

What happens to the turkeys that don’t end up being selected for presidential pardons, but are part of the flock that you’ve raised?

They will be treated and consumed just like any other turkey. As we speak, about 40 million turkeys are eaten on Thanksgiving. Only two are pardoned.

Where do the birds go after the presidential pardon?

When the president pardons someone, their life is spared and you must find them a home. The forever home for this year’s presidential turkeys will be Farmamerica. Based in Waseca, Minn., it is Minnesota’s agricultural interpretive center. It is a place where consumers and school children and the general public can interact with the history of agriculture in Minnesota and also learn more about how their food is raised. So the birds will live out their lives there, at one of their exhibits, and hopefully allow consumers to learn a little more about where their food comes from.