I Beg Your Pardon: The Strange History Presidents Sparing Turkeys
President Trump is set to pardon another Thanksgiving turkey, either Bread or Butter or both, in another year of this odd American tradition.
Once again, on this week of Thanksgiving, a U.S. president will "pardon" a turkey Tuesday.
Why, you ask? Good question. It's one your author has been asking for 10 years now. And we have answers, including when all this started and who the first president was to pardon a turkey.
But first, understand, this is a strange and misunderstood tradition that doesn't go back as far as you might think and has been sustained by a special interest group – the turkey lobby.
The National Turkey Federation, whose website is literally EatTurkey.org, sponsors the event and has spent almost $3
