George W. Bush pardons a turkey
On this day in 2002 President George W.Bush issues a humorous but sincere presidential pardon to a lucky turkey that otherwise might have ended up on someones Thanksgiving Day dinner table.In doing so he continued a tradition begun in 1947 when the National Turkey Foundation first presented Thanksgiving turkeys to President Harry S.
Truman.According to the National Turkey Foundation Truman was given one live turkey and two dressed turkeys the week before Thanksgiving in 1947.Truman donated the live bird to a local farm where the turkey was guaranteed a long life unmolested by stuffing or gravy.Likewise in 2005 Bush accepted the foundations gift of two live birds named Marshmallow and Yam in a White House ceremony.Calling the birds the peoples turkeys Bush explained that they had earned their names through a democratic processthe public was allowed to vote on names for the birds through the White House website.
He quipped that the vote had been so close you might say it was neck and neck.Previous votes resulted in names like Biscuit and Gravy Bushs 2003 turkeys were patriotically dubbed Stars and Stripes.According to the White House website most previously pardoned turkeys had been sent to live on a 1930s-era farm in Fairfax County Virginia.In 2005 Bush sent Marshmallow and Yam to serve as Grand Marshals for the Disneyland Thanksgiving Day Parade and to live out their years at the Disneyland Resort and Theme Park in Anaheim California.Bush and his family later enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal of roast turkey with all the trimmings.
