When was turkey pardoning made?

Answer 1

There is actually quite a debate among historians about this. There is some evidence that Abraham Lincoln may have been the first. But we do know it was not a regular custom for presidents in the 1800s. The idea of pardoning a turkey seems to have originated from an old custom of poultry producers and farmers-- back about 100-125 years ago, they used to send the president a turkey as a gift at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas; in some cases, the president chose not to eat those gift turkeys. It was jokingly said when a turkey was spared that the president was giving it a "reprieve," by not having it killed. We also know that John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford may have "pardoned" a turkey in this way. (Some sources have said Harry Truman also did so, but his library says it was not a custom of his at all.) But as an official custom of Thanksgiving, the first president to turn it into a ritual was George H. W. Bush, in 1989. And presidents have been following this custom ever since.