Why does president pardon turkey

Of the 50 turkeys, two are finally selected, and are typically named by children of the US state where they have been raised. The winning pair is then brought to the capital, Washington, D.

After the birds are saved from slaughter, they are sent to a facility where they spend their remaining years alive. Click here to join our channel indianexpress and stay updated with the latest headlines. Australia beat Pakistan to reach the finals Explained: Who is Devasahayam, the first Indian layman to be conferred sainthood?

Home Explained Explained: The history of Thanksgiving, and the presidential turkey pardon Explained: The history of Thanksgiving, and the presidential turkey pardon Thanksgiving Day The Thanksgiving harvest festival, chiefly observed in North America, falls on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the US every year November 26 in The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.

Reports of turkeys as gifts to American presidents can be traced to the s, when Rhode Island poultry dealer Horace Vose began sending well fed birds to the White House.

The First Families did not always feast upon Vose's turkeys, but the yearly offering gained his farm widespread publicity and became a veritable institution at the White House.

At Thanksgiving , a turkey-come-lately from Kentucky shared a few minutes of fame with the fine-feathered Rhode Islander. Soon after, in December, Horace Vose died, thus ending an era. By , the opportunity to give a turkey to a president was open to everyone, and poultry gifts were frequently touched with patriotism, partisanship, and glee. In , an American Legion post furnished bunting for the crate of a gobbler en route from Mississippi to Washington, while a Harding Girls Club in Chicago outfitted a turkey as a flying ace, complete with goggles.

The turkey gifts had become established as a national symbol of good cheer. With animal rights activists picketing nearby, President George H. The focus on Truman stems from his being the first president to receive a turkey from the Poultry and Egg National Board and the National Turkey Federation.

From September to November , announcements of the government encouraging "poultryless Thursdays" grabbed national headlines. Outrage from homemakers, restaurant owners, and the poultry industry was palpable in Washington. The effort was deflated in time for Thanksgiving, but not before poultry growers had sent crates of live chickens— "Hens for Harry"— to the White House in protest. The turkey they presented to President Truman that December promoted the poultry industry and established an annual news niche that endures today.

While was the beginning of the official turkey presentation from the poultry industry, the turkey pardon remained a sporadic tradition. In December , Truman accepted two turkeys and remarked that they would "come in handy" for Christmas dinner. There was clearly no plan for these birds to receive a presidential pardon. The Washington Post used both "pardon" and "reprieve" in a article in which President Kennedy said of the turkey, "Let's keep him going. After , the practice of sending the presentation turkey to a farm became the norm under President Ronald Reagan.

The turkey ceremony also became a source of satire and humor for reporters. Ahead of the ceremony the birds rest in the luxurious Willard Hotel. This year's birds, Corn and Cob, were pictured reclining in their fancy hotel room ahead of the final competition for freedom.

The turkeys are said to spend the rest of their days in comfort with fresh bedding, a heater, food and water, and an indoor pavilion. Some birds during the Barack Obama and George W Bush administrations were even sent to Disneyland to greet crowds in the theme park and be paraded down Main Street.

Sadly the spared turkeys do not tend to live very long after their pardoning. As the animals are farm-raised and bred to be eaten, they grow larger and faster than they would in the wild and do not have a long lifespan.