{"id":18822,"date":"2024-11-25T16:42:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T16:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18822"},"modified":"2024-11-25T16:42:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T16:42:47","slug":"how-the-white-house-thanksgiving-turkey-pardon-came-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18822","title":{"rendered":"How the White House Thanksgiving Turkey pardon came to be"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n <\/p>\n

U.S. presidents have for decades dutifully trotted out before Thanksgiving<\/a> to hold an obligatory turkey<\/a> pardoning ceremony on the White House grounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The presidential practice of granting clemency to a choice selection of lucky turkeys just before millions of citizens feast is now an established American tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But then how did it all begin? Here\u2019s a look from the Washington Examiner into how the ceremony came into existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

KEY DATES FOR THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Abraham Lincoln<\/p>\n

Tradition has it that Abraham Lincoln was the first president to grant clemency to a turkey during the Civil War.<\/p>\n

Historical accounts indicate Tad Lincoln, the president\u2019s son, urged his father to spare the bird from being slaughtered for a Christmas feast in 1863, per an 1865 report by White House reporter Noah Brooks. While the White House Historical Association has reported the account may be overstated<\/a>, the legend lives on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John F. Kennedy<\/p>\n

People delivered turkeys as gifts to the White House<\/a> for years after Lincoln\u2019s alleged act of clemency, and President Harry Truman became in 1947 the first occupant of the oval office to host a turkey presentation from the National Turkey Federation. But there is no known record of a president pardoning a turkey from the group until John F. Kennedy\u2019s presidency in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s keep him going,\u201d Kennedy said of the turkey in a 1963 Washington Post article, according to the White House Historical Association.\u00a0<\/p>\n

VOTERS SEND HISTORY-MAKING CANDIDATES TO CONGRESS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The outlet\u2019s publication was also the first time the word \u201cpardon\u201d was used.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every president since Kennedy has subsequently lined up to take a photo with representatives from the National Turkey Federation during a turkey presentation ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For presidents facing foul attacks from political opponents and weighed over by heavy policy matters, the light-hearted ceremony has served as a welcome relief from the cares of the Oval Office and represented an opportunity for citizens to see the chief executive in a more human light.<\/p>\n

Ronald Reagan<\/p>\n

Ronald Reagan<\/a> became the first president to use the term “pardon” about a turkey during a ceremony in 1987.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His successor, President George H.W. Bush<\/a>, formalized the turkey pardoning tradition, with the practice becoming an annual event each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He will not end up on anyone\u2019s dinner table, not this guy. He\u2019s granted a presidential pardon as of right now,” Bush said.<\/p>\n

Presidents have now quipped their way through the ceremony for years, though it has ruffled PETA’s feathers.<\/p>\n

The progressive animal rights group has found the jokes a little foul, mourning \u201cit makes light of the mass slaughter of some 45 million gentle, intelligent birds.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama<\/a> wasn’t known to gobble up the turkey ceremony either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know some folks think this tradition is a little silly,\u201d\u00a0he said in 2015 at the pardoning ceremony. \u201cI do not disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Source: <\/em> politics.einnews.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. presidents have for decades dutifully trotted out before Thanksgiving to hold an obligatory turkey pardoning ceremony on the White House grounds.\u00a0 The presidential practice of granting clemency to a choice selection of lucky turkeys just before millions of citizens feast is now an established American tradition.\u00a0 But then how did it all begin? Here\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}