The Presidential Turkey Pardon Worksheet Download

Did you know a turkey can meet the president? Each November, a big bird visits the White House, home of the president. The president gives it a pardon, which means the turkey is safe!

That lucky bird's story began with a gift from farmers. Since 1947, turkey farmers have given the president one every year. In 1963, President Kennedy sent his turkey back to the farm.

Years later, in 1989, President George H. W. Bush gave the first official pardon. Today, two turkeys are chosen, and people sometimes help name them. From the White House, these lucky birds go to farms or universities, big schools for grown-ups!

Wow, a lucky turkey gets to meet the president every year and then go free! It is big and feathery, with a floppy red flap called a wattle under its chin. The president says "pardon," a word that means to forgive someone and let them go.

Turkeys visited presidents long before that word came along, because farmers sent them as gifts. Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has given one to the president each year. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy sent his turkey back to the farm.

Sending a turkey home sounds like a pardon because the turkey is let go, and in 1987 President Ronald Reagan joked about giving his turkey one. In 1989, President George H. W. Bush gave the first official pardon. Can you picture a president forgiving a bird, something that now happens every year?

That tradition now has two stars, because two turkeys are raised and chosen for the big day. Sometimes the public helps pick their names. After the pardon, the turkeys live on farms or at universities, so one may even live near college students!

Imagine you are standing on the White House lawn as a big turkey struts right past the cameras! Its red wattle, the floppy skin under its beak, wobbles as it gobbles. Then the president says the turkey is "pardoned," a word that means excused from a punishment. This lucky bird will not become a holiday dinner, so it gets to go free!

Going free was not always the plan for a White House turkey. Long ago, farmers sent turkeys to the president as gifts, and many were meant for dinner. Since 1947, a group called the National Turkey Federation has given the president a turkey each year. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy sent his turkey back to the farm instead of keeping it for a meal.

That trip back to the farm was only the start of the pardon story. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan made a joke about pardoning the turkey. Two years later, in 1989, President George H. W. Bush gave the first official pardon. After that, pardoning a turkey became a yearly tradition!

Because the pardon happens every year, today's turkeys are raised and chosen with care. Two turkeys are picked, and sometimes the public helps name them. After the ceremony, the pardoned turkeys go to live on farms or at universities. Just think: a turkey once sent to the president for dinner now gets a name, a ceremony, and a cozy new home!

Picture a crisp November morning outside the White House, where a crowd is gathered on the lawn. Cameras click, and everyone leans in as the guest of honor waddles into view: a huge turkey with a bright red wattle, the floppy flap of skin that hangs under its beak! The president steps up to the microphone, smiles, and says the bird is officially pardoned. Did the turkey do something wrong? Not at all!

That word "pardoned" is the funniest part, because for years turkeys came to the White House with no pardon at all. Long ago, farmers and families sent turkeys there as holiday gifts. Beginning in 1947, a group called the National Turkey Federation, which represents turkey farmers, has presented a turkey to the president each year. That makes the tradition older than many grandparents!

That began to change in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy sent his turkey back to the farm instead of keeping it. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan joked that the turkey he was given would be pardoned. Then, in 1989, President George H. W. Bush made it official, giving the first formal pardon to a turkey. A joke had turned into a tradition!

Since then, the ceremony has grown into a big, well-planned event. Today, two turkeys are raised and chosen for the job, and in recent years both have been pardoned. Sometimes schoolchildren suggest their names, which is how one pair became Peanut Butter and Jelly. What would you name them?

Once they have their names, the turkeys have one more big trip ahead. They go to live on farms or at universities, where caretakers look after them. Wild turkeys can fly in short bursts, even though they look too heavy for the sky. Imagine that: a gift that started as a present for the president now ends with a name, a pardon and a happy retirement.

Here is a puzzle: why would the president of the United States forgive a turkey that never broke a single rule? Every November, a big feathery bird gobbles outside the White House while cameras click, reporters chuckle, and the president announces an official pardon. A pardon is usually forgiveness for a crime, yet this bird's only mistake is being a turkey. To crack the case, we need to follow a trail of clues, and the first one leads straight to the farm.

Farmers are the heart of this mystery, because long ago some of them began sending turkeys to the White House as gifts for the president. In 1947, the National Turkey Federation, a group that speaks for turkey farmers, began presenting a turkey to the president every year. Wild turkeys live only in North America, but the birds at these ceremonies are farm-raised and well cared for. As the years passed, the yearly handoff grew into a ceremony with photographers, speeches, and crowds.

Ceremonies like that were just waiting for someone to change the ending, and in 1963 President John F. Kennedy did. He sent his turkey back to the farm instead of keeping it. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan tossed out a joke that the turkey beside him deserved a pardon. Two years later, in 1989, President George H. W. Bush gave the first official pardon, and the joke became a real tradition.

A real tradition needs real preparation, so today farmers raise two turkeys for the big day. One steps into the spotlight while the other waits as a backup, and both receive a pardon. Sometimes the pair gets a funny name, such as Mac and Cheese or Peanut Butter and Jelly. Names like those turn two farm birds into celebrities, which is why people wonder where the stars go next.

When the cameras go home, the stars of the show head off to new homes of their own. Pardoned turkeys go to live on farms or at universities, where people look after them. That is the real meaning of this pardon: not forgiveness for a crime, but a chance at a safe, quiet life. So the mystery has a sweet answer: a joke in 1987 and a first official pardon in 1989 helped turn a gift for the president into a free bird with a name.

You might think the presidential turkey pardon is a tradition as old as the White House itself, but get ready for a surprise! Each November, a plump, white-feathered turkey waddles across a table while the president cracks jokes, cameras click, and the crowd laughs. Normally, a pardon is an official act that forgives someone for a crime, so a turkey pardon is really a wink, a joke that everyone is in on. I think that is what makes it so delightful: the bird has done nothing wrong, yet it gets a grand ceremony anyway.

Before the jokes came a much plainer custom, and it started with gifts. Long ago, farmers sent turkeys to the White House, often as treats for a holiday table. Imagine opening the door to find a crate with a very loud, very feathery passenger inside! Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation, a group for the turkey industry, has presented a turkey to the president every year. That makes the presentation older than many of your grandparents.

A gift can always be handed back, and in 1963 President John F. Kennedy did exactly that by sending his turkey home to the farm. It was a kind gesture, but nobody called it an official pardon. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan joked about giving his turkey a pardon, and the funny idea stuck around. Then, in 1989, President George H. W. Bush made it real with the first official pardon. In a little over forty years, a simple delivery had turned into a full-blown ceremony.

Once the pardon was official, it needed a star, and finding one takes real planning. Today, two turkeys are raised for the job, so one can be an understudy, like the backup actor in a school play. The birds are raised to stay calm around people, bright lights, and noise, which is quite a feat for a turkey as heavy as a medium-sized dog. Sometimes the public gets a vote, helping to pick the birds' names. After the ceremony, the pardoned birds head off to live on farms or at universities.

Living on a farm or a campus may seem like a small ending, yet the ceremony leading up to it matters more than you might think. It gives people a silly, shared moment to laugh at together, and it reminds us that farmers work hard to raise food that many families enjoy. Families celebrate this season in many ways, and not every family serves turkey, but a goofy bird in the spotlight is something many people can enjoy. In my view, traditions like this last because they let leaders be playful and let everyone join the fun. Think of it this way: a custom that began with turkeys sent for dinner tables now ends with one lucky bird walking free.

A bird that can weigh as much as a medium-sized dog stands on a table outside the White House, gobbling at the cameras, while the president announces that it is forgiven for a crime it never committed. Reporters laugh, photographers lean in, and a bird with a spotless record walks off with a presidential pardon. A pardon is a formal act of forgiveness, and the Constitution gives presidents the power to grant one for federal crimes. Turkeys break no laws, which is exactly why the ceremony is funny. So how did a turkey earn such an honor?

The answer begins with presents, because well before any pardon, farmers and poultry dealers sent turkeys to the White House as holiday gifts. In 1947, the National Turkey Federation, a group that represents turkey farmers and companies, began presenting a turkey to the president every year, starting with President Harry Truman. A yearly photo with the president put turkeys in the news just before Thanksgiving. Back then, the presentation was simply a gift, with none of the forgiveness that came later. But the tradition was about to pick up a twist.

The twist came in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy received his turkey and sent it back to the farm instead of the dinner table. No one called it a pardon yet, but it showed that a presidential turkey did not have to end up on a plate. The word 'pardon' joined the story in 1987, when President Ronald Reagan joked that a turkey named Charlie was being pardoned. Notice how the joke works: pardon is a serious word, and pairing it with a turkey creates a funny contrast. It was only a quip, though, and the official version was still two years away.

The official version arrived in 1989, when President George H. W. Bush formally pardoned a turkey and sent it to live on a farm. Later presidents kept the idea, and a quick moment grew into a yearly event. It likely caught on because it is lighthearted, easy to understand, and a chance for everyone to laugh together. Each president since has added their own jokes to the script, which keeps the ceremony feeling fresh. Today the event is so polished that the planning starts long before the first camera arrives.

That planning starts on a farm, where two turkeys are raised and chosen instead of one, so a backup is ready if a bird has a bad day. Handlers help the birds get used to people and noise, so they stay calmer around crowds and cameras than you might be. The public sometimes helps with names, and the results have been wonderfully silly, such as Tater and Tot or Peas and Carrots. Notice the pattern: each pair sounds like something from a dinner menu, a clever wink at the meal the birds will miss. In recent years both birds have usually been pardoned, so the backup gets the same happy ending.

A happy ending needs a home, and pardoned turkeys have usually found one on a farm or at a university. Some have lived at Virginia Tech, for example, where experts in animal science help care for them. Because these birds are bred to grow large quickly, they often live shorter lives than wild turkeys, so caretakers watch their health closely. Wild turkeys, which live only in North America, can fly short distances, while their heavy farm-raised cousins usually cannot. So a custom that began as a gift meant for dinner, passed through a joke, and became a ceremony now gives one bird a quiet pasture, all because a serious word landed on a very unserious bird.

On a November day in 1989, President George H. W. Bush stood beside a plump turkey at the White House and announced that the bird would never end up on anyone's dinner table. Reporters chuckled, cameras clicked, and the turkey, which had no idea it was making history, simply looked around. Today the ceremony unfolds with a podium, a crowd, and a president who delivers jokes the way a comedian would, then 'pardons' a bird that has committed no crime. Pardons are normally a serious power used for people, which is exactly why the scene is so funny. But ask when this tradition truly began, and you will hear several different answers, because it all depends on what you count as a pardon.

If you count gifts, the story starts long before 1989, since farmers sent turkeys to the White House for holiday tables long ago. Those early birds were presents, not pets, and nobody expected them to be spared. In 1947 the gift became an annual event, when the National Turkey Federation, a group that represents the turkey industry, began presenting a turkey to the president each year. Why would a trade group bother? A photo of the president with a turkey draws attention to turkeys, which is something an industry group would naturally welcome. Even so, the gift alone does not explain the pardon, since in those early years the bird was usually still headed for a dinner table.

The first clear break from that pattern came in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy received his turkey and chose to send it back to the farm instead of to the oven. It was a quick decision rather than a planned ceremony, which is one reason it is seen as a forerunner of today's custom, not its start. Some people argue the tradition goes back even earlier, to President Harry Truman in 1947, the very year the federation began its yearly gift. That claim makes a tidy story, but the Truman Presidential Library has said it found no record that Truman ever pardoned a turkey. Here a popular tale outran its evidence, a reminder that repeating something often does not make it a record.

The real evidence points to the 1980s, when the word 'pardon' finally entered the story. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan joked that he would pardon the turkey he was given, turning a gift into a punchline. A joke is not yet a custom, though; it is President Bush's announcement in 1989 that is usually counted as the first official pardon. Think of building a staircase: Kennedy laid the first stair with an act of mercy, Reagan added the humor, and Bush gave the whole thing its name and its formality. That is why many sources date the official tradition to 1989 while still treating 1963 and 1987 as steps along the way.

'Steps' is a fitting word, because today's ceremony is planned far more carefully than any of those early moments. Two turkeys are raised and chosen each year, so a backup is ready in case one cannot take part. The pair gets names for the occasion; in 2019, for example, they were called Bread and Butter, and the public voted online to pick which bird was the national turkey. After the ceremony, pardoned turkeys go to live on farms or at universities, where people look after them. Did you know that turkeys bred to grow very large are usually too heavy to fly? Their wild relatives, which live only in North America, can still flap up into trees.

Even though these birds differ so much from their wild cousins, the ceremony stays popular, perhaps because it lets a very serious office show a sense of humor. Another explanation is simpler: it is a cheerful way to start the holiday season, even for the many families who serve other foods or skip the big meal. Whichever explanation you prefer, look at the structure of the tradition: a gift, a gesture of mercy, a joke, and finally a formal ritual, each layer added by different people at different times. That layering is why 'Who invented it?' gets such a messy answer. In the end, a custom now full of podiums and online votes grew from farmers' gifts, a spur-of-the-moment kindness, and a punchline, and no single person can claim to have planned it.