Travis Pittman of Wayne County, North Carolina, raised Gobble and Waddle — the two turkeys selected to be pardoned by President Trump. The presentation continues a long White House tradition: President Harry Truman was the first to be presented with a turkey by the National Turkey Federation, and while presidents once ate the donated fowl, the modern gesture of sparing a turkey traces back to George H.W. Bush (President Kennedy is often credited with an early humane moment when he spared a bird in 1963).
Pittman typically raises flocks of at least 19,000 birds for Butterball, the nation’s largest turkey producer; Butterball CEO Jay Jandrain is this year’s chairman of the National Turkey Federation. With roughly 30 million turkeys on American tables each Thanksgiving, the two birds chosen to go to the White House stood out on Pittman’s farm because they were the friendlier, more curious birds — “they were normally the two that came to us first every day,” Pittman said.
Pittman credits his young son, Carter, for helping to feed and interact with the winning birds, a reminder that farming is a family business and a familywide commitment. Pittman urged people to remember that the men and women in agriculture work long hours and literally carry their jobs home. “So be thankful for the farmers,” he said.
Ed O’Keefe, CBS News, Washington.