Turkeys at the White House: A History of Presidential Thanksgivings

Not much is documented before the year 1920, which was Woodrow Wilson’s second to last year in office. Here, a turkey gifted to the White House to serve as the president’s Thanksgiving dinner centerpiece traveled in style, thanks to a custom-designed crate complete with its own rotunda. (Photo: Library of Congress)

Back in 1921, H.W. Mason of Crystal Springs, Miss., gifted a turkey — which, like Wilson’s bird, arrived in its own personal crate — to President Warren G. Harding. Look closely, and you can see "Warren G. Harding" clearly printed on the side. (Photo: Library of Congress)

On Nov. 25, 1929 — not yet a month into the Great Depression — representatives of the Minnesota Arrowhead Association traveled to Washington, D.C., with a selection of champion turkeys for President and Mrs. Hoover’s White House Thanksgiving table. (Photo: Library of Congress)

In this 1935 photo, President Roosevelt carves a turkey during the third Thanksgiving of his presidency as first lady Eleanor Roosevelt looks on. A few years later, in 1939, FDR made history by moving Thanksgiving to a week earlier, hoping that the shift would help bolster retail sales and lift the country’s sinking economy. Detractors called the new day “Franksgiving.” The date was changed back in 1941. (Photo: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

The custom of presenting a Thanksgiving turkey to the standing president began with Harry S. Truman in 1947. However, no evidence suggests he actually pardoned it. In fact, in 1948 Truman made a point of saying the turkey “would come in handy,” not for Thanksgiving festivities but for the 25-person feast he planned for Christmas. Here he is, a year later in 1949, receiving a turkey from the Poultry and Egg National Board. (Photo: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library)

President Truman’s Thanksgiving spread in 1948 mostly featured standard holiday fare — roast stuffed turkey, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes, to name a few classics — but the second meal at the bottom caught our attention. Apparently President Truman wasn’t so stuffed after Thanksgiving dinner for a spot of supper, which in this case was a club sandwich and (gulp!) a glass of buttermilk. (Photo: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

In 1951, President Truman and his family spent Thanksgiving in Key West Fla., where they vacationed each winter at a former naval station headquarters known as “The Little White House.” In this 1951 photograph, the home’s dining room is decked out for Thanksgiving. (Photo: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

A grinning President Eisenhower slices into the holiday table’s main event in 1953. Not long before, he had received a living turkey as a gift from the Poultry and Egg National Board, and apparently a pardon was the furthest thing from his mind. Records at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library reveal its final destination: “Turkey to be dressed,” then delivered to the president’s table. Archivist Tammy Kelly told The Washington Post, "The Trumans were not animal people.” (Photo: George Skadding/Getty Images)

In 1963, President Kennedy received this turkey from the National Turkey Federation. It wore a sign around its neck that read, “Good Eating, Mr. President!” But it seems JFK had a soft spot for his new feathered friend and sent it back to the farm from whence it had come. “We’ll just let this one grow,” he said. (Photo: John F. Kennedy Library Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

In 1967, President Johnson was also presented with a sign-wearing turkey from the National Turkey Federation. But unlike his predecessor, LBJ didn’t have any qualms about denying the bird a pardon. “I’m told… Johnson actually ate [his] turkeys,“ Obama said, according to a White House press release. "You can’t fault [him] for that; that’s a good-looking bird.” (Photo: Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library)

Here’s President Nixon in 1969, hanging out with a Thanksgiving turkey in front of the West Wing colonnade. The bird got lucky: Nixon gave it a reprieve. According to the White House blog, it was sent to a petting farm near Washington, D.C. (Photo: Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

In this 1970 photo, Mrs. Nixon views the Thanksgiving turkey and vegetables. (Photo: Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

Despite the frozen turkey in this photo, the live bird given to President Ford on Nov. 20, 1975, was saved from a fate on the Thanksgiving table. According to a White House memo, the event marked the first time the president, the presenter (one Marvin DeWitt), and the turkey were all from the same state: Michigan. (Photo credit: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

In 1977, President Carter spent Thanksgiving dinner at Camp David, and Madeline MacBean, personal assistant to first lady Rosalynn Carter, wanted to ensure the menu was perfect. But as Ronald Jackson, then the White House’s presidential food coordinator, reminded her, “Jimmy doesn’t especially like green peas.” Jackson swapped them out for fresh green beans, but cautioned: “not frozen ones.” (Photo: Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

Looks like the Thanksgiving turkey in this 1987 photo nearly escaped! Not that he had to worry: It was the first year the word “pardon” was uttered at the annual turkey presentation ceremony. Reagan used the opportunity to deflect questions as to whether he would grant pardons to people involved in the Iran-contra affair, quipping that he would have pardoned the turkey had it not already been heading to a petting zoo. (Photo: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

According to the White House Historical Association, “formalities of pardoning a turkey gelled by 1989.” That year, with animal rights activists picketing nearby, George H. W. Bush quipped, “‘Reprieve,’ ‘keep him going,’ or ‘pardon’: it’s all the same for the turkey, as long as he doesn’t end up on the president’s holiday table.” Here he is in 1991, giving another bird a pass. (Photo: George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

President Clinton, alongside daughter Chelsea and first lady Hillary, pose with their Thanksgiving turkey in the Camp David kitchen, where they spent the holiday in 1995. (Photo: Ho New/Reuters)

In this 2005 photo, President Bush pardons a turkey named “Marshmallow.” Beginning that year, pardoned birds were sent to Disneyland to live out their days and serve as honorary grand marshals of that year’s Thanksgiving day parade. This came following concerns that previous birds had not survived long at (unfortunately named) Frying Pan Park near Herndon, Va., where they’d been sent for 15 years prior. (Photo: George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

In this 2009 photo, daughter Sasha covers her face as President Obama is presented with a turkey named Courage. It’s OK, Sasha! “Thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha — because I was planning to eat this sucker — Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate,” President Obama said at the ceremony. (Photo: Lawrence Jackson/The White House)

Want more Thanksgiving inspiration? Here you go!

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Every Turkey Recipe You Need for Thanksgiving

Ina Garten’s Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Advice

The 10 Commandments of Perfect Mashed Potatoes