President Truman Presented with Thanksgiving Turkey

This photograph by Abbie Rowe of the National Park Service shows President Harry S. Truman receiving a turkey from members of the National Turkey Federation and the National Egg and Poultry Board. Presidents and their families have received turkeys for the holidays since the 1870s. The origin of the turkey pardon is said to have started with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, after he offered a clemency to a turkey purchased for Christmas dinner at his son's request. However, the pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey became a formalized tradition during the Ronald Reagan administration.