Though the modern tradition of an American president officially pardoning a turkey at Thanksgiving began with George H. W. Bush in 1989, the idea is believed to have originated with Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s pardoned turkey was actually gifted to the First Family in 1863, just a month after the president declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. Though meant to be Christmas dinner that year, the turkey was quickly adopted by Tad Lincoln, the president’s 10-year-old son. Tad named the bird Jack and trained it to follow him all over the White…
