The tradition of U.S. presidents pardoning turkeys before Thanksgiving is said to have begun more than 60 years ago, during the Truman era. But the Truman Library says it has found no documentation of this, and in fact "Truman said that turkeys sent to him by others ended up on his family's dinner table as a dish".　　Some say the statement may have come from a tradition of turkeys being sent to the White House every Thanksgiving by the president of the National Turkey Association, which began in 1947.　　Others say that President Abraham Lincoln pardoned one of his son's pet turkeys more than 100 years ago. But there is no historical evidence of this.　　President John F. Kennedy, who was in office in the 1960s, never issued a formal turkey pardon, except on November 19, 1963 (three days before his assassination on the 22nd), when he asked his staff not to slaughter a turkey that had been sent to him. He said at the time, "Keep it."

Most historians believe that formal pardons of turkeys by U.S. presidents began 20 years ago, during the Bush Sr. era.