8 Wacky Presidential Turkey Pardon Moments [VIDEOS, PHOTOS]
As holidays go, Thanksgiving sure has its share of odd traditions. Live parades with lip-synched musical numbers! Mincemeat pies and Jell-O molds! Grandma Ruthie removing her dentures at the dinner table! Not even the President of the United States is spared his share of the inanity. Case in point: the presidential turkey pardon, an annual pre-Thanksgiving practice in which the POTUS makes a speech about the stuff we should all be thankful for and then poses for a photo-op with a live turkey before sending it off to live the rest of its life uneaten (by humans, anyway).
As ludicrous as it may be, some pardons turn out even wackier than others. The following eight pics and video clips capture what we think have been the most bizarre bird ceremonies in Thanksgiving history.
Truman unleashes gentle humor on turkey (1949)
usgov.info.about.com
JFK's turkey is forced to wear a humiliating sign (1963)
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
Ronald Reagan and unidentified Reagan aide with amazing hair “ham” it up with a turkey (1988)
Mike Sprague, AFP/Getty Images
Fake president Jed Bartlet skewers turkey-pardon fakery, 'The West Wing' (2000)
George W. Bush Meets an Angry Turkey (2001)
Gov. Sarah Palin Pardons a Turkey in Wasilla (2008)
Obama “planning to eat this sucker” (2009)
Obama laughs off worst election ever (2010)