A White House turkey was first spared death in 1863. Tad Lincoln had named their Christmas turkey Jack and made it his companion. He was so distraught at the bird's impending demise that he interrupted a Cabinet meeting to beg his father to spare its life. The practice of giving a Christmas turkey to the White House became a formal ceremony in 1947, leading some to say Truman had started the turkey pardon. But he was happy to serve the bird.
George H.W. Bush started the modern tradition when he formally pardoned a turkey in 1989, sending it to Frying Pan Park.
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