Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning: From Gifts to a Presidential Tradition

A concise history of the U.S. Thanksgiving turkey presentation and “pardon” tradition: from 19th-century gifted birds to early mentions of clemency linked to Abraham Lincoln (reported in 1865), through ceremonial presentations in the 1910s–1920s, debate over Harry S. Truman’s role, John F. Kennedy’s 1963 “Let’s keep him going” remark, and the farm retirements of the 1970s–1980s—culminating in President George H. W. Bush formally granting a “Presidential pardon” in 1989.