I mean, other Presidents had previously decided not to eat animals given to them for that purpose My favorite example is that this is the origin story of Rebecca Coolidge, the White House Raccoon
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Yes, raccoons used to be a traditional part of an all-American Thanksgiving feast In an old fashioned American winter you couldn't afford to be picky
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Oh my God the existence of this tradition only makes sense now that you’ve said Reagan started it. I mean it’s fucking weird but of course Reagan was like “har har isn’t it cute that we kill people like livestock”
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Washington post had a story about the history of the “ceremony”:https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2018/11/20/presidents-didnt-always-pardon-turkeys-some-became-dinner/ …
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Wait, really? I always just assumed it was an Eisenhower-vintage thing.
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Reagan was the one who called it a "pardon", leading to HW Bush having an actual "pardon ceremony" The poultry farmers association sending the White House a turkey every Thanksgiving is a tradition that goes back to Truman, when it was a political protest
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I think it was Ford who first pardoned a turkey, but he didn't do it at Thanksgiving so it didn't get picked up as a tradition until Reagan revived it with modifications.
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No, Reagan is the origin of calling it a "pardon", i connection to the Iran-Contra scandal It was extremely tacky
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