Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Question: Which president started the tradition of pardoning turkeys?

Answer: Presidential turkey pardons became an annual tradition in 1989 with George H. W. Bush, though some predecessors, including John F. Kennedy, informally spared turkeys in earlier years.

The earliest known instance of a president sparing the holiday bird can be traced to Abraham Lincoln, whose son, in 1863, begged to keep a Christmas turkey as a pet.