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1 of 12President Harry Truman pardons the Thanksgiving turkey in 1947.Universal History Archive/UIG/ Getty Images -
2 of 12Vice President Richard Nixon "shakes hands" with a 40-pound white turkey at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14, 1955.William J. Smith/AP -
3 of 12First lady Mamie Eisenhower is amused by the gobbling of a 40-pound tom turkey presented to her at the White House, on Nov. 14, 1957.Charles Gorry—AP -
4 of 12President John F. Kennedy and Senator Everett M Dirksen receive a Thanksgiving turkey from the Poultry and Egg National Board at the White House, on Nov. 19, 1963.Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images -
5 of 12Charlie, Caroline Kennedy's pet Welsh terrier, inspects a turkey presented to President Kennedy after a traditional Thanksgiving week ceremony at the White House, on Nov. 19, 1963.Anonymous—AP -
6 of 12President Gerald R. Ford is presented with a Thanksgiving turkey by the National Turkey Federation at the White House, on Nov. 20, 1975.Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images -
7 of 12President Ronald Reagan seems startled as John Hendrick, President of the National Turkey Federation, presents him with the annual Thanksgiving turkey at the White House on Nov. 16, 1984.Scott Stewart—AP -
8 of 12President George H.W. Bush gestures during a Rose Garden ceremony where he pardoned the Thanksgiving turkey presented by the National Turkey Federation, on Nov. 25, 1992.Greg Gibson—AP -
9 of 12President Bill Clinton and National Turkey Federation President Stuart Proctor watch as turkey handler Walter Gislason tries to catch the annual White House turkey "Jerry," who was pardoned from his role in Thanksgiving dinner by the President at the White House on Nov. 24, 1998.JOYCE NALTCHAYAN—AFP/Getty Images -
10 of 12President George W. Bush pets Biscuits, the national Thanksgiving turkey "pardoned" during an annual ritual at the White House on Nov. 17, 2004.Matthew Cavanaugh—Getty Images -
11 of 12Obama gestures that his daughters Sasha and Malia would rather pass on touching "Cheese" the turkey during a ceremony at the White House on Nov. 26, 2014.Jacquelyn Martin—AP -
12 of 12Marshmallow, the national Thanksgiving turkey, is carried away by James Trites, of Minnesota, who raised Marshmallow, after President George W. Bush pardoned him during an event in the White House Complex Nov. 22, 2005 in Washington, DC.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images
The annual ceremony of the presidential turkey pardon, in which the U.S. president symbolically saves at least one turkey from being killed for a holiday feast, has become a Thanksgiving tradition—but it’s unclear just how the tradition got started.
According to the White House, president Lincoln supposedly gave mercy to a Christmas turkey after his son Tad begged him not to kill it.
Some people give President Truman credit as the first to participate in the modern version of the ritual, but according to the Presidential Libraries his turkeys had a different destiny: “Truman sometimes indicated to reporters that the turkeys he received were destined for the family dinner table.” Most historians agree that, in fact, in 1963 President Kennedy was the first to unofficially pardon a Thanksgiving turkey, with the words, “We’ll just let this one grow.”
But it was President Reagan who first used the term “pardon,” in 1987, in the middle of an exchange during which he was questioned about pardoning people involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. Deflecting questions about the scandal while describing how he’d been assured the turkey would go to a farm rather than a holiday table, he told Sam Donaldson of ABC News, “If they’d given me a different answer on Charlie [the turkey] and his future, I would have pardoned him.”
George H.W. Bush formally pardoned the thanksgiving turkey two years later when he told reporters, “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 granted a presidential pardon as of right now.”
Since then, the tradition has stuck. As President Obama said in 2015: “Time flies even if turkeys don’t.”
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