National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation

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Barack Obama Pardons Courage (2009)

The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is now part of the White House custom on Thanksgiving as a promotional event organized by the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board at which the President is ceremoniously presented with a live turkey . Since the beginning of George HW Bush's term of office in 1989 at the latest , the animal intended for consumption and the substitute animal have traditionally been “pardoned”.

Origin of tradition

Although the exact origins of the tradition remain unclear, some see the origins of the tradition in Turkey Jack: In 1863 Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad Lincoln (1853–1871) held a public discussion about the killing of Jack on Thanksgiving and his right to vote . Sometimes it was suggested that the example of Jack metaphorically the controversies surrounding the emancipation proclamation and the ongoing war of civil secession . Lincoln had instrumentalized on the one hand the pathos surrounding Thanksgiving and on the other hand the (apparently) banal character of the "turkey discussion " in order to talk to the nation in a unified manner in view of the impending secession . It is said of Jack that he survived at least the presidential election in 1864 , where he played a supporting role in a campaign event for voting soldiers.

The next chronological myths about pardons or receptions of turkeys do not appear again until the middle of the 20th century. The Truman Library, for example, denies the apparently frequently made assumptions that President Truman (1945–1953) justified the form of the event. The archivists at the Eisenhower Presidential Library note that there is no evidence that President Eisenhower pardoned any of the turkeys presented to him. It is said of John F. Kennedy that, although he did not issue a “pardon” during the ceremony on November 18, 1963, “Let's just keep” in view of the label on the neck “Good Eating Mr. President” him. ”(let's keep him) said. Ronald Reagan jokingly referred to an alleged “pardon” of a turkey named Charly at a press conference on a possible pardon for Oliver North . After the presidential turkey hit the president in the face with his wings several times in the ceremony of 1984 , a second vice presidential bird is also selected, which as a rule plays no role in the ceremony, but has also been pardoned (not publicly) since 1989. From 1989 the tradition was formalized under George HW Bush and the birds were invariably pardoned. First, it was common that taps her remaining life in Frying Pan Park ( Fairfax County spent, Virginia). Between 2005 and 2009, the roosters were sent to either Disneyland California or Walt Disney World Resort , where they played a role in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. As of 2010, the cocks will be sent to George Washington's former estate , the Mount Vernon country estate . The birds typically die within a year of the ceremony due to breeding- related health problems.

In the US , nearly 70 million turkeys are eaten annually in the fourth quarter .

Interpretations

There are a number of interpretations and interpretations of the staging of pardoned turkeys. For example, it was proposed to interpret the ritual as a staging of sovereignty : "Disguised as a joke, the symbolic pardon establishes and solidifies the position of the sovereign by demonstrating his power over life and death as a characteristic of this position." The conception of pardoned turkeys as sacrificed firstfruits underscores on the one hand the ceremonial role of the political sovereign and "symbolically paves the way for the millions of other turkeys who will subsequently die (or have already been killed and frozen)" Karen Davis also sees in the Rite is the "meaningful staging of an animal sacrifice " that is supposed to "stimulate the appetite". Another analysis suggests asking, beyond the “animal policy” dimensions, “[what] happens when these images are parodied in cartoons […] and 'non-pardoned' turkeys end up in Guantanamo Bay or as tied up and gagged Saddam Hussein with an apple in his mouth? ”From this it is concluded that these images“ merge into complex raptures and substitutions in which the turkeys become representatives for ethnically others ”.

Similar productions

Some states, each with a strong agricultural industry, have been practicing the rite since the turn of the millennium; including Minnesota , Missouri , Iowa and North Dakota . Sarah Palin staged a 2008 runner-up candidate for a turkey pardon on a farm in Alaska. This action was often interpreted as a "debacle" because in a subsequent interview on political issues in the background the slaughter of several turkeys could be seen. Palin pardoned another turkey in 2009 and since then has portrayed herself more often as “rustic, down-to-earth and fearless of the necessary and righteous violence against animals”, for example by posing with “ hunting trophies ” or chatting publicly about her abilities to skin moose. In 2006, the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt pardoned the pig Smulan on the occasion of the upcoming Christmas holidays. The pardon was suggested by TV4 and finally broadcast in the context of the Bingolotto .

Cinematically, the theme was implemented in the animated film Free Birds .

List of "pardoned" turkeys

The names of the birds are determined by the breeders or in online polls on the White House website:

Pardons under President Ronald Reagan

  • 1987: Charlie

Pardons under President Bill Clinton

  • 1999: Harry
  • 2000: Jerry

Pardons under President George W. Bush

  • 2001: Liberty and Freedom
  • 2002: Katie and Zack
  • 2003: Stars and Stripes
  • 2004: Biscuits and Gravy
  • 2005: Marshmallow and Yam
  • 2006: Flyer and Fryer
  • 2007: May and Flower
  • 2008: Pecan and Pumpkin

Pardons under President Barack Obama

  • 2009: Courage and Carolina
  • 2010: Apple and Cider
  • 2011: Liberty and Peace
  • 2012: Cobbler and Gobbler
  • 2013: Popcorn and Caramel
  • 2014: Cheese and Mac (aroni)
  • 2015: Honest and Abe
  • 2016: perpetrators and dead

Pardon under President Donald Trump

  • 2017: Drumstick and Wishbone

photos

literature

Web links

Commons : National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Davis 2001 , p. 120, quoted Brian Luke : Brutal: Manhood and the Exploitation of Animals . University of Illinois Press, 2007, ISBN 0-252-07424-6 .
  2. ↑ Fiskesjö 2003 , pp. 22-23.
  3. ↑ Fiskesjö 2003 , pp. 34–43, argues that in the meantime the myth about the creation of the teddy bear had an analogous political function.
  4. ↑ Did Truman Pardon a Turkey
  5. ^ A b c Monica Hesse: Turkey Pardons, The Stuffing of Historic Legend . In: The Washington Post , November 21, 2007. 
  6. ↑ ( Fiskesjö 2003 pp. 6-7)
  7. ↑ Press release ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the National Turkey Federation . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eatturkey.com
  8. ↑ Lauren Fox: 2010 Turkeys Pardoned By Obama Died This Year . In: US News , November 22, 2011. 
  9. ^ Carl Bialik: Claims of Thanksgiving Excess Fueled by Feast of Fuzzy Data . In: Wall Street Journal , Nov. 25, 2009. 
  10. ↑ Fiskesjö 2003 , p. 1.
  11. ↑ Fiskesjö 2003 , p. 8.
  12. ↑ Davis 2001 , p. 14.
  13. ↑ Roth 2010 , p. 101.
  14. ↑ Fiskesjö 2010 , p. 16.
  15. ↑ Fiskesjö 2010 , p. 15. ( Video )
  16. ↑ James Savage: Reinfeldt pardons Christmas pig . In: The Local , December 22, 2006. 
  17. ^ The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presidential Pardoning . In: About.com Southeast US Travel . Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  18. ^ Names of the National Thanksgiving Turkeys . In: About.com Southeast US Travel . Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  19. ↑ ( speech )
  20. ↑ ( speech )
  21. ↑ ( speech )
  22. ↑ ( speech )
  23. ↑ David Jackson: Obama pardons TOTUS - the Turkey of the United States. usatoday.com, November 25, 2015, accessed November 27, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Danielle Kurtzleben: President Obama's 2016 Turkey-Pardon Dad Jokes: The Definitive List , NPR, November 23, 2016; accessed on November 24, 2016.
  25. ↑ Jessica Estepa, David Jackson and Julia Fair: With turkey pardon, Trump spares Drumstick and Wishbone from Thanksgiving dinner , USA Today , November 21, 2017; accessed on November 22, 2017.