The origins of the turkey pardon, one of Washington’s strangest customs. Blossom and Peach carry on the White House turkey custom.
Biden’s final Thanksgiving pardons will be for the two Minnesota birds.
President Biden pardoned Peach and Blossom, two Minnesota turkeys, at the White House on Monday, sparing them from the poultry fate of being on someone’s Thanksgiving table this year.
According to National Turkey Federation head John Zimmerman, these birds were selected for the presidential flock and underwent intense training to go to the White House on the gravy train for the privilege.
During a news briefing on Sunday to introduce the two turkeys, Zimmerman stated, “There has been a lot of special care taken in preparing these presidential birds.” “We’ve been acclimating them to the lights, the camera, and even exposing them to a broad range of music, from classic rock to polka.”
Back in July, Peach and Blossom, who weigh 41 and 40 pounds, respectively, were hatched. As is customary, they were provided to a suite at the Willard InterContinental hotel prior to their big day on Monday when they flew to Washington this week.
The two turkeys will return to Waseca, Minnesota, after being pardoned, to spend the rest of their feathery lives as “agricultural ambassadors” at Farmamerica, an agricultural educational site.
Every year, the White House pardons turkeys, a custom that is typically “cranned” with a plethora of cheesy jokes. Biden’s pardon this year will be his final one as president.
The background of the pardon for turkeys
It’s a little unclear where the presidential turkey pardons came from. Unofficial rumors trace it all the way back to Abraham Lincoln, who, at the behest of his son Tad, saved a bird from certain death. That tale, though, may be more folklore than reality.
The actual beginning of what has become the modern custom has political roots and goes all the way back to 1947, when Harry Truman was president.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day fell on Thursdays, despite Truman’s controversial decision to institute “poultry-less Thursdays” in an attempt to preserve different foods in the wake of World War II.
Although the turkey was not spared from a holiday feast, the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board gave Truman a bird as a peace offering after the White House was bombarded with live birds delivered as part of a “Hens for Harry” counter-initiative.
Days before he was assassinated in November 1963, President John F. Kennedy started the practice of publicly saving a turkey that was donated to the White House. The occasion became somewhat less frequent in the years that followed, with even some first women, like Pat Nixon and Rosalynn Carter, accepting the guests of honor on behalf of their husbands.
The practice of pardoning chickens in the White House began in 1989 when then-President George H.W. Bush issued the first official presidential pardon, while the public-sparing custom resumed in earnest during the Reagan era. Over the past thirty years, at least one fortunate bird has received additional gobbles annually.