President Trump recently spared two turkeys, Gobble and Waddle, and sent them to North Carolina State University’s Department of Poultry Science after their reprieve. The modern Thanksgiving ritual of the presidential turkey pardon has evolved over decades from informal gestures into an annual White House event.
The practice can be traced back to 1947, when Harry Truman participated in an official turkey presentation. During wartime rationing and post–World War II food-conservation campaigns, Truman supported poultryless Thursdays, a stance that irked the poultry industry. That December the National Turkey Federation sent a very large turkey as a peace offering; Truman posed with the bird, though there is no record at the Truman Library that the bird was formally spared or given a permanent home.
A more deliberate act of mercy occurred in 1963, when John F. Kennedy intervened on behalf of a turkey perched beside a sign reading “Good eating, Mr. President,” an episode often cited as the first unofficial pardon. In later years, first ladies such as Patricia Nixon and Rosalynn Carter routinely redirected turkeys sent to the White House to public zoos or farms instead of the dinner table. Ronald Reagan even joked about pardoning “Charlie the Turkey” while deflecting tougher questions during the Iran–Contra era.
The event became an established White House tradition in 1989 under President George H.W. Bush, who announced at an annual ceremony that the bird would be granted a presidential pardon rather than be eaten. That announcement set the tongue-in-cheek, joke-filled tone subsequent presidents adopted. Barack Obama was especially noted for delivering a steady stream of puns and lighthearted quips about the birds as his daughters looked on embarrassed.
Since the pardon was formalized, more than 60 turkeys have been spared, turning the quirky gesture into a predictable part of the Thanksgiving season and a piece of modern presidential pageantry.