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This is a tradition whose origins are very much in doubt. Some sources say that President Abraham Lincoln was the first to "pardon" a turkey-- that is, to not kill and eat it, but rather, to allow it to live on, as a pet or roaming free on a farm. Other sources say it was Harry Truman who first pardoned a turkey, but his own presidential library disputes this. Here is what we do know: sending a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey to the White House used to be a popular gift, as far back as the 1870s; farmers, as well as members of the public often sent them. But gradually, the custom faded, although some poultry farmers continued to send them well into the 1960s.
According to the White House website, it was George H.W. Bush who officially came up with the idea of giving the turkey a formal reprieve in 1989-- several previous presidents, including John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford, had not ordered their gift turkey killed either, but Bush Sr. decided to make it an annual ritual, sparing a turkey's life each year with a "presidential pardon." (But as some animal rights websites have noted, despite the good intentions, turkeys today are often raised on factory farms and are artificially fattened up to such a degree that they can barely walk. As a result, even the turkeys that are "pardoned" don't live very long.)
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoPresident Obama continued the custom of pardoning a turkey for 2012 on Nov. 21.
in the Rose Garden . The spared bird was named Cobbler and went be sent to Mt. Vernon.
(To pardon a turkey means that it will not be eaten for Thanksgiving. Every year the President of the United States pardons a turkey so that it will not be eaten that year.)
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThe vice-president can not pardon a person for a crime, but turkeys are a different breed - he can pardon a turkey if he likes. However, this pardon has no legal standing unless he owns the turkey .
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoThe turkeys Obama pardoned in November of 2011 were sent to George Washington's estate of Mount Vernon.
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoOnce the turkey was released from death row, Abe intended to eat it.
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Who was to pardon a turkey from Thanksgiving?
The President
What animal does the US president pardon each Thanksgiving?
One turkey .
What is customary for the president of the US to do on the eve of Thanksgiving at a white house ceremony?
They give a pardon to a turkey.
Which president is believed to be the first to pardon a turkey and start this annual tradition?
President Harry Truman in 1947
What does the president do to turkey at thanksgiving?
who was the president that declared Thanksgiving a holiday
What elected official grants a pardon to one Thanksgiving turkey?
The president of the United States of America is the elected official who grants a pardon to one Thanksgiving turkey. It actually is a case of two pardoned turkeys -- an heir and a spare -- in case the first-pardoned bird does not long survive post-White House life as a tourist attraction in Morven Park, Leesburg, Virginia.
What does pardon the turkey mean?
Pardoning the turkey is a phrase used when farmers are getting ready to prepare turkeys for sale for Thanksgiving. It's a sort of ritual, where a good, healthy, ready to be slaughtered for sale turkey is pardoned from being slaughtered.
Did turkey the country create Thanksgiving?
no thanksgiving didnt come from turkey because thanksgiving is a holiday in USA
Why do you celebrate Thanksgiving with turkey?
You do so because they ate turkey at the 1st Thanksgiving.
Do people in turkey celebrate Thanksgiving?
They DO celebrate Thanksgiving in Turkey. They celebrate the same way we do.
What should be capitalized in do you plan to serve turkey for thanksgiving?
Do you plan to serve turkey at Thanksgiving.
Do turkey eat turkey for Thanksgiving?
No, because if they eat other turkey for Thanksgiving it would be like you eating other people.
