Turkey Pardon: A White House Thanksgiving Tradition

The presidential turkey pardon is an interesting White House tradition that has captured the attention of the public in recent years. Live Thanksgiving turkeys have been presented to presidents since the Lincoln administration. The turkey pardon ceremony has been said to date back to 1947, when President Harry Truman received a turkey as a gift from the National Turkey Federation. The Truman Library has been unable to find any evidence of this.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan informally issued a "pardon" to a turkey and sent him to a petting zoo. It wasn't until the first Thanksgiving of President George H.W. Bush, in 1989, that a turkey was officially pardoned. Each year since, the President has formally pardoned a turkey and spares it from ending up on the Thanksgiving table. A pardoning ceremony is held each year in the White House Rose Garden a day or two before the national holiday.

Hotel Harrington Makes for Easy Access To Taste of DC!

The aromas, the flavors, the variety… Sample everything but the traffic when you make Hotel Harrington your home base for the annual Taste of DC, taking place on October 10-11, 2015! As one of the most powerful and international regions, the D.C. metropolitan area is brimming with flavors both familiar and exotic - more than 50 of which are on display at this popular annual fall event, not to mention entertainment featuring both regional and national favorites. The best way to get there, is to stay here!

Taste of DC features restaurants from D.C.-proper as well as those from surrounding Maryland and Virginia. Some have legitimate roots in all three jurisdictions. For example, last year’s event featured a booth for The Original Velati’s (as shown in the video below). The venerable candy store was opened in 1866 by Salvatore Velati at 9th and G Streets NW (not far from where Taste of DC takes place today), and was a cherished tradition for generations of residents of our metropolitan area. For the latest details on the Taste of DC, click here.

Our region’s culinary delights tell a hundred tales from near and far. But there’s no need to feel like you’ve circled the globe in search of parking in order to enjoy them! Make your reservation now… at Hotel Harrington!