The history of the turkey pardon

Carrying on one of the more interesting traditions in Washington for the fourth time as U.S. president, Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys named Peach and Blossom on Monday.
The pardoning ceremony took place at the White House, allowing two turkeys from Minnesota, who would normally be a part of Thanksgiving meals, to live on.
“Based on your temperament and commitment to being productive members of society, I hereby pardon Peach and Blossom,” the president said.
The turkeys Biden has pardoned in his previous years as president are Peanut and Jelly, Chocolate and Chip, and Liberty and Bell. This year’s turkeys were named after the Delaware state flower, the peach blossom.
“Delaware has a long history of growing peaches. In fact, the peach pie in our state is one of my favorite. It’s a state dessert. And the peach blossom flower also symbolizes the resilience, which is, quite frankly, fitting for today,” Biden said.
The president introduced each of the turkeys who were both born in July.
“Peach weighs 41 pounds and loves to eat hotdish and tater tots, and also cross-country,” Biden said. “The real dream he has is to see the northern lights, I’m told. He lives by the motto, ‘Keep calm and gobble on.’”
“Blossom weighs 40 pounds, loves to eat cheese curds and watch boxing; dreams to visit each one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes; lives by the motto, ‘No fowl play, just Minnesota nice,’” Biden said.
The turkeys were driven to Washington from their home state of Minnesota over two days.
“Well, that trip is 1,100 miles. It takes 16.5 hours. Through it all, they stayed calm, and they gobbled on and are still gobbling,” Biden said. They stayed nice, listening to their favorite music, which apparently includes the song ‘Living on a Prayer.’”
The two turkeys were raised and trained by John Zimmerman, chairman of the Turkey Federation, and his son Grant.
According to CBS, each year the Turkey Federation selects a new chairman who is in charge of selecting and providing two turkeys to be pardoned by the president. It is a role that can only be held once by a person.
The two turkeys will be sent to Farmamerica in Minnesota to serve as educational ambassadors.
“This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington. It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during this season and give thanks and gratitude. So, let me say to you: It’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful,” Biden said as he closed his remarks.
The origins of the turkey pardoning tradition are a bit murky.
In 1947, Harry Truman was the first president to have a turkey presented to him by the Turkey Federation, but that turkey was not pardoned; it was eaten for Thanksgiving dinner, according to NPR.
It was in 1989 that George H.W. Bush made the turkey pardon an official White House event.
According to NPR, the former president said, “Let me assure you and this fine tom turkey. That he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy — he’s presented a presidential pardon as of right now — and allow him to live out his days on a children’s farm not far from here.”
Bush may have been the first to officially pardon a turkey but he wasn’t the first to let one go.
President John F. Kennedy was presented a turkey from the Turkey Federation in 1963. The animal was clearly intended for the president to eat but instead Kennedy said “We’ll just let this one grow,” per NPR.
After Kennedy, presidents Nixon and Carter had their turkeys sent to petting zoos.
The first time the word “pardon” was used by a president talking about a turkey was by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 when he was presenting that year’s turkey named Charlie, according to NPR.
The turkey pardon is a presidential tradition that has been used as plot point in multiple pieces of media, from books to movies and TV shows.
In the book “Red White and Royal Blue,” the main character Alex Claremont-Diaz, who is the son of the president, keeps the turkeys in his room overnight so that money isn’t spent on a hotel room for them. The same thing occurs in the movie adaptation of the book as well.
Another reference to the tradition is in the political drama “The West Wing.” In Season 2, Episode 8, the White House press secretary CJ Craig must choose which turkey will be pardoned and which will be a part of Thanksgiving dinner.
The show “Veep” also includes the tradition when the show’s main character Selina is shown pardoning a turkey in Season 5, Episode 5.
The movie “Free Birds” is all about a turkey who is pardoned by the president of the United States, who then goes on a journey to change Thanksgiving as we know it.