Each year, the White House celebrates Thanksgiving by issuing a presidential pardon that allows one or two lucky turkeys to go free. So how and when did this fun tradition of turkey pardons start? That depends on who you ask.
This year, President Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys named Liberty and Bell. “These birds have a new appreciation for the word, ‘let freedom ring,'” he said.
In a previous White House ceremony, President Donald Trump, pardoned a bird saying, “I’m pleased to report that, unlike millions of other turkeys at this time of the year, Drumstick has a very, very bright future ahead of him.”
Long-Standing Tradition
Those are just two examples in a long line of pardons allowing a turkey a new lease on life.
“It is a long-standing White House tradition in which the National Turkey Federation will present a turkey to the president, and the president will pardon the bird,” explained Lina Mann, a historian with the White House Historical Association.
“So this has been going on in a lot of different forms for a long time,” she said.
The question is often asked, “When did this tradition of pardoning turkeys for Thanksgiving begin?” One theory is it
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