Thanksgiving Trivia: What’s Up with Those Presidentially Pardoned Turkeys?
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on November 27, 2011
Pres. Bill Clinton at the annual 'Pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey' ceremony in 1999 - the turkey's name was Harry
My teen son astutely said this as we watched the news coverage of Pres. Obama pardoning two turkeys, Liberty and Peace, at the White House’s annual National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation: “Pardoning turkeys is lame.”
Hmm. What is up with the “pardoning” of turkeys by our Commander in Chief? Sparing the bird’s life is one thing, but a president “pardoning” a turkey like it’s a death-row murderer is a trifle odd.
I knew some vague details about the tradition’s origins. The historical accounting of Pres. Abraham Lincoln sparing the life of his son’s beloved turkey Jack in 1863 from becoming a holiday dinner — 10-year-old Tad Lincoln reportedly interrupted a cabinet meeting by barging in and between sobs begged his father, “He’s a good turkey, and I don’t want him killed!” — is endearing. From some quick research, I was surprised to learn that the actually “pardoning” of a turkey by the president and making it into a big hoop-de-doo is fairly recent. I never knew that turkeys are selected at birth to be the presidentially pardoned turkeys once they fatten up.
In fact, they’re so darned fat, the celebrated pardoned Thanksgiving turkeys die early deaths — one of the turkeys that Pres. Clinton pardoned could barely walk. The birds pardoned this week by Pres. Obama weigh a whopping 45 pounds.
Wonder why fat-obsessed FLOTUS Michelle Obama isn’t voicing any outrage over these poor, obese birds?
It’s a bit sad to learn that Apple and Cider, the two turkeys that Pres. Obama pardoned in the White House Rose Garden last year, have already gone to that great turkey coop in the sky. Apple and Cider lasted longer than the turkeys that were presented to Pres. Dwight Eisenhower — not one for sentimentalism, he happily ate all the birds presented to him during his two terms in office.
There’s an online White House archive of photographs from previous presidential turkey pardons.
The Thanksgiving turkey pardoning has been treated differently from one year to the next by the media, depending on who is the president. The press nastily, hypocritically attacked Bush for it in 2008, but treated Clinton’s 1998 turkey pardon with Biblical references. Likewise, no media outrage over Obama’s turkey pardoning, like this supportive, lighthearted reporting from the leftist Huffington Post:
With a wave of his hand, President Barack Obama on Wednesday gave two plump turkeys a Thanksgiving reprieve, noting that without his intervention, “they’d end up next to the mashed potatoes and stuffing.”
The official national Thanksgiving turkey is a 19-week-old, 45-pound bird named Liberty. Its alternate, also spared, is a turkey of the same age and size named Peace.
Liberty sat calmly as Obama, accompanied by daughters Sasha and Malia, offered a blessing, his hand over the turkey’s head. Obama said Liberty had the distinction of being “the luckiest bird on the face of the earth.”
“Right now, he’s also probably one of the most confused,” Obama said.
Obama jokingly cast his pardon as yet another of his “We Can’t Wait” initiatives. “Recently, I’ve been taking a series of executive actions that don’t require congressional approval,” the president said. “Well, here’s another one. We can’t wait to pardon these turkeys.”
This Thanksgiving turkey information, including accompanying noted reference links, is pulled from Wikipedia.
Gobble, gobble.
Partial List of Turkeys Pardoned
- 2002: George W. Bush pardoned the first-ever female turkey in the ceremony, Katie, a 30-pound bird bred by Ron Prestage, Chairman of the National Turkey Federation, as well as alternate bird Zack. The turkeys were named after Prestage’s children.[4]
- 2003: Bush pardoned Stars and back up Stripes [5]
- 2004: Bush pardoned Biscuits and back up Gravy.
- 2005: Bush pardoned Marshmallow and alternate bird Yam, raised in Henning, Minnesota. Beginning in 2005, pardoned birds were sent to Disneyland to live, and serve as the “honorary grand marshal” of that year’s Thanksgiving day parade, following concerns raised by animal rights objections that the birds had not survived for long. For the previous 15 years they had been sent to Frying Pan Park near Herndon, Virginia.[6] Names were generally chosen in online votes taken at the White House website.
- 2006: Bush pardoned Flyer an alternate bird Fryer, raised in Missouri.[7]
- 2007: Bush pardoned 45-pound May and backup Flower, raised in Indiana.[8]
- 2008: Bush pardoned 45-pound backup “vice” turkey named Pumpkin, after the number one turkey Pecan fell ill the night before the ceremony. Both turkeys were allowed to live.[9][10]
- 2009: Barack Obama pardoned Courage, a 45-pound turkey provided by the National Turkey Federation, and alternate bird Carolina, raised in North Carolina.[11]
- 2010: Obama pardoned Apple, and alternate bird Cider.[12] Both had died of natural causes by Thanksgiving 2011.[3]
- 2011: Obama pardoned a 45-pound turkey named Liberty and an alternate bird named Peace, both of which were raised in Willmar, Minnesota.[13]
Pres. John F. Kennedy in 1963, just days before his assassination; sign around turkey's neck read, 'Good Eatin', Mr. President!'
More Thanksgiving president/turkey pardon info from Wikipedia…
The origins of the tradition of pardoning the White House turkey are unclear. Many credit President Harry Truman with starting the informal and lighthearted tradition in 1947. However, the Truman Library says that no documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs or other contemporary records are known to exist that specify that he ever “pardoned” a turkey.[1][2] The Eisenhower Presidential Library says documents in their collection reveal that President Dwight Eisenhower ate the birds presented to him during his two terms. President John F. Kennedy spontaneously spared a turkey on Nov. 19, 1963, just days before his assassination, but did not grant a “pardon.” The bird was wearing a sign reading, “Good Eatin’ Mr. President.” Kennedy responded, “Let’s just keep him.” President Ronald Reagan deflected questions in 1987 about pardoning Oliver North in the Iran-Contra affair by joking about pardoning a turkey named Charlie, who was already heading to a petting zoo.[1]
Since 1989 when the custom of ‘pardoning’ the turkey was formalized, the turkey has been taken to a farm where it will live out the rest of its natural life. For many years the turkeys were sent to Frying Pan Park in Fairfax County, Virginia. From 2005 to 2009, the pardoned turkeys were sent to either the Disneyland Resort in California or the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, where they served as the honorary grand marshals of Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In 2010 and 2011, the turkeys were sent to live at Mount Vernon, the estate and home of George Washington.
The turkeys are raised in the same fashion as turkeys designated for slaughter, but are selected “at birth” for pardoning and are trained to handle loud noises, flash photography and large crowds. Because most Thanksgiving turkeys are bred and raised for size at the expense of longer life, they are prone to health problems associated with obesity such as heart disease, respiratory failure and joint damage. As a result of these factors, most of the pardoned turkeys have very short lives after their pardoning, frequently dying within a year of being pardoned.[3]
Pres. George H.W. Bush, 1991 Annual Pardoning of the Thanksgiving Turkey | Photo courtesy George H.W. Bush Presidential Library
Bird on the Loose: Pres. Bill Clinton watches as turkey handler Walter Gislason, right, tries to catch Jerry the runaway turkey, who was pardoned by Clinton in 1998
Pres. Ronald Reagan jokes with farmer John Holden and his wife, who raised this 1985 Thanksgiving turkey
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Hm. If they want a turkey to live longer after it’s pardon, maybe a heritage breed would be a better idea. But, I gotta say, I love Eisenhower’s practicality!