{"id":25195,"date":"2022-11-21T21:05:10","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T21:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/11\/21\/why-do-us-presidents-pardon-turkeys-at-thanksgiving\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:05:46","slug":"why-do-us-presidents-pardon-turkeys-at-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/fedlife\/2022\/11\/21\/why-do-us-presidents-pardon-turkeys-at-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do US presidents \u2018pardon\u2019 turkeys at Thanksgiving?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014President Joe Biden issued \u201cpardons\u201d Monday to two turkeys, \u201cChocolate\u201d and \u201cChip,\u201d sparing the birds from the Thanksgiving table<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will live out their lives at a poultry research center at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, according to a statement from the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hereby pardon Chocolate and Chip,\u201d Biden said during a ceremony on the South Lawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do presidents pardon turkeys, anyway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Library of Congress, President Harry S. Truman presided over the first live turkey ceremony<\/a> by the Poultry and Egg National Board and the event in 1947 established an annual tradition at the White House. Originally, the birds presented were intended for the Thanksgiving meal. Birds given to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s had signs around their necks that read \u201cGood Eating Mr. President.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Kennedy spared the life of his turkey in 1963, the tradition of pardoning White House turkeys can be traced back to Lincoln\u2019s granting clemency to a bird a century before<\/a>, according to the Library of Congress. Lincoln\u2019s son Tad asked his father to spare the life of the animal, which the boy wanted for a pet.<\/p>\n\n\n\t