President Obama’s Final Turkey Pardon

This Thursday, friends and families across the United States will gather to give thanks, spend time with loved ones and enjoy a festive meal. But before the First Family sits down to their Thanksgiving dinner, President Obama will continue a long-cherished White House tradition and pardon the final turkey of his presidency.
Since 1947, the chairman of the National Turkey Federation has presented a turkey to the President of the United States, who grants a pardon to the bird.
While only one can be named the National Thanksgiving Turkey, both lucky birds will be sent to their new home at Virginia Tech where they will be cared for by veterinarians and students of Virginia Tech’s Animal and Poultry Sciences Department at “Gobbler’s Rest” in Blacksburg, Virginia