1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,760 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, the U S presidents 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: have a lot to say, but once a year they 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: really talked turkey. At least that's what President Joe Biden 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: said he was going to do on a fine November 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: day in one when he had his first opportunity to 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: stand in the White House rose Garden and pardon a 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: turkey for Thanksgiving. As has become the norm, Biden actually 9 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: pardoned two turkeys. Their names were peanut Butter and Jelly 10 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: before they were sent off to Indiana University. The official 11 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: pardoning of White House turkeys is now a familiar event 12 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: that the press well eats up for the article. This 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: episode is based on how Stuff Work. Spoke with Lena Mann, 14 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: a historian at the White House Historical Association. She said, 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: this is my absolute favorite White House tradition. It's just 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: very fun, which I think is why it indoors. It's 17 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: a way for the presidents to show off their sillier sides, 18 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: and it's certainly is silly. Lest do you think peanut 19 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: Butter and Jelly wear flukes of Prior turkey pairs have 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: had names like Mac and cheese, tater and todd, cobbler 21 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: and gobbler, and corn and cob All of this leads 22 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: us to the question of when and how this compassionate 23 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,320 Speaker 1: we get odd tradition hatched. It's definitely a departure from 24 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: the usual duties of a U. S. President. One theory 25 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: about its origins is that it again when President Abraham 26 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: Lincoln's son asked that the families Christmas turkey be spared. 27 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,000 Speaker 1: But the tradition developed in fits and starts. According to Man, 28 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: in the latter half of the eighteen hundreds, citizens began 29 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: sending turkeys to the president at the White House for 30 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: the holidays. The Thanksgiving had become a national holiday in 31 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty three, and by the eighteen seventies, a Rhode 32 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: Island poultry man by the name of Horace Bows had 33 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: begun getting fully dressed turkeys to the White House, of 34 00:01:57,480 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: meaning they were cleaned and stuffed and ready to be 35 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: not that they were wearing little bow ties. Those continued 36 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: sending the turkeys every year, and newspapers started to report 37 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: on his efforts, making him a well known purveyor of poultry. 38 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: By the time Theodore Roosevelt was President, vose was still 39 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: sending fully dressed turkeys to the White House. Then a 40 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: newspaper published an article claiming that Roosevelt's children had terrorized 41 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: the turkey that they received, a claim that was clearly 42 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: made up, because remember, the turkeys vose sent were not alive. 43 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: They were definitely deceased, they had shuffled off their mortal coil. 44 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: They were ex turkeys. That does not mean that presidents 45 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,959 Speaker 1: never received live turkeys or other animals in those early days. 46 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: In Nix, someone from Mississippi sent the Coolidges a live 47 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: raccoon for the President's Thanksgiving table. But luckily for the raccoon, 48 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: the first Lady, Grace Coolidge, took a shine to it 49 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: and kept it as a family pet, naming it Rebecca Young. 50 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 1: Rebecca proceeded to live a charmed life, earning press coverage 51 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: and even attending the nineteen seven White House Easter egg roll, 52 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: and then she retired to a zoo when Herbert Hoover 53 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: took over in n I should put in here that 54 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: raccoons should not be kept as pets beyond the fact 55 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: that they are wild animals and can carry rabies. Believe 56 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: me when I tell you that they have a smell 57 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: and you want no part of it anyway. In the 58 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: years following World War Two, food shortages led to an 59 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: organization called the Citizens Food Committee, with support from the 60 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,600 Speaker 1: White House, requesting that Americans commit to meatless Tuesdays and 61 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: poultry and egg free Thursdays. Many Americans were outraged by 62 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: this idea, of especially as the holidays approached. In Thanksgiving, Christmas, 63 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: and New Year's Day of ninety eight all fell on Thursdays. 64 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: Of poultry farmers began sending chickens to the White House 65 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: in protest. The campaign was called Hens for Harry, named 66 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: for then President Harry Truman. The poll free free food 67 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: conservation program quickly lost steam. In December of ninety seven, 68 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: the Poultry and Egg National Board, in collaboration with the 69 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: Turkey Federation, presented Truman with a turkey wearing a whopping 70 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 1: forty seven pounds that's twenty one kilos, and a new 71 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: annual tradition was born. The Truman White House Thanksgiving table 72 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: did forego pumpkin pie that year in honor of going 73 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: egg free. Since nine seven, the National Turkey Federation has 74 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 1: presented a bird to the President each year, but letting 75 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: the birds live past Thanksgiving Thursday occurred sporadically for the 76 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: next few decades. In nineteen sixty three, just three days 77 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 1: before his assassination, President John F. Kennedy pardoned the turkey 78 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: Kennedy had received a bird wearing a sign good eating. Mr. 79 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: President Kennedy chose instead not to find out, stating let's 80 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: keep him going in night. First, Lady Rosalind Carter opted 81 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: to send a turkey to live out its life in 82 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: a mini zoo, and by the time Ronald Reagan took office, 83 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: sending the pardon turkeys to farms had become the norm 84 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: an informal fun event. The first official turkey pardoning ceremony 85 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: took place during the presidency of George H. W. Bush 86 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: on November seventeenth. Bush and others headed to the Rose 87 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: Garden to save the life of one lucky bird. Bush said, 88 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: let me assure you and this fine tom turkey that 89 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 1: he will not end up on anyone's dinner table. Not 90 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: this guy. He's presented a presidential pardon as of right now, 91 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: and allow him to live out his days on a 92 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: children's farm not far from here. All presidents after have 93 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: maintained the tradition. Today they are sent from a different 94 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: US far more farmer each year through the National Turkey Federation. 95 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: More recently, the norm has been for two turkeys to arrive, 96 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: the main turkey and an alternate think a sort of 97 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: turkey understudy to step in and just in case the 98 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: primary turkey behaves badly on stay age. Both turkeys received 99 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: the pardon, though, and live out their days away from 100 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: the dinner table. And just where the turkeys go after 101 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: the ceremonies has changed throughout the years too. Kennedy sent 102 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixty free turkey back to the farm that 103 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: it came from, while Nixon sent his turkey to a 104 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: petting zoo. During the Obama administration, turkeys named Courage and 105 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: Carolina headed to Disneyland, Yes really. After Courage, the main 106 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: turkey start in the Disneyland Thanksgiving Day parade, he and Carolina, 107 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: the understudy, retired to the Big Thunder Ranch petting zoo. 108 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: But you don't have to be a sitting president to 109 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: make a turkey's day on Thanksgiving. You can take up 110 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: the old call for a poultry free Thursday, but you 111 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: can also adopt a turkey symbolically again wild animal. But 112 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:54,160 Speaker 1: organizations like Farm Sanctuary let you symbolically adopt a rescued 113 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: spokes turkey for the holiday season for a relatively small donation. 114 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: M Today's episode is based on the article why in 115 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: the world do US President's partnering turkeys? On how stuff 116 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: works dot com, written by Kerry Whitney. Brain Stuff is 117 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: production by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works 118 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For more 119 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: podcasts from My heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 120 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.