How U.S. presidents shaped the Thanksgiving holiday: A short history
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President Donald Trump is using his pardon power to keep a pair of turkeys from the Thanksgiving roaster. (Nov. 21)
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As President Trump prepares to spend his first Thanksgiving in office at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in West Palm Beach, Fla., we take a look at how past presidents have shaped and celebrated the traditional American holiday now marked as a day for eating turkey and giving thanks.
More: Honest and Abe, turkeys Obama pardoned in 2015, are living their best lives in Virginia
More: Meet Wishbone and Drumstick, the turkeys President Trump pardoned
George Washington
According to the White House Historical Association, the first president named Thursday, Nov. 26, 1789, as a day of public thanksgiving, after a recommendation from Congress.
According to the website of his estate, Mount Vernon, the president spent the day attending services at St. Paul’s Chapel in New York City, as well as donating beer and food to prisoners.
Washington’s move came more than a century after the so-called “first Thanksgiving” in 1621 at Plymouth, Mass., featuring the Pilgrims and members of the Native American Wampanoag tribe.
But several decades would pass without a national annual thanksgiving holiday. States would issue holiday proclamations on their own.
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln’s own proclamation came in the middle of the Civil War, when his country was torn apart. Part of the reason for the declaration: a celebration of the Union’s victories.
His proclamation came on Oct. 3, 1863.
“It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People,” the proclamation read. “I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
According to the WHHA, the origin of presidential turkey pardons could also be traced back to Lincoln — though that turkey was brought to the White House for Christmas dinner, not a Thanksgiving feast. Lincoln’s son, Tad, “interceded” on behalf of a live turkey, according to a White House reporter at the time.
More: With turkey pardon, Trump spares Drumstick and Wishbone from Thanksgiving dinner
Theodore Roosevelt
In the decades after Lincoln’s proclamation, the holiday flourished around the United States, despite not being an official federal holiday, according to the WHHA. The participants included the presidents themselves, who often spent the holiday at the White House – especially since travel was less convenient back then.Â
Back in 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt moved back into the White House with his family in the midst of a renovation project at the White House, WHHA senior historian Matthew Costello said. When he found out that the workmen on site were going to miss their own Thanksgiving meals, he had the kitchen staff prepare and deliver the workmen food.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his mark on the holiday in two ways. First, in 1936, he became the first president to celebrate Thanksgiving outside of the United States, according to WHHA. He was aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis, en route to a conference in Buenos Aires, and celebrated with the cruiser’s captain, executive officer and chaplain.
Later, in 1939, with the Great Depression at its tail end, Roosevelt opted to push the Thanksgiving holiday — then traditionally done on the last Thursday of November — a week up, in order to not slow down Christmas sales. Eventually, Congress stepped in and passed a law in 1942 that declared the holiday would fall on the fourth Thursday of the month.Â
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President Donald Trump (C), first lady Melania Trump, their son Barron, National Turkey Federation Chairman Carl Wittenburg and his family and members of the Draper County, Minnesota, 4-H chapater pose for photographs after Trump pardoned, Drumstick, the National Thanksgiving Turkey in the Rose Garden at the White House November 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. Following the presidential pardon, the 40-pound White Holland breed which was raised by Wittenburg in Minnesota, will then reside at his new home, ‘Gobbler’s Rest,’ at Virginia Tech.Â
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… And modern day
Just like any American, each president gets to decide how they spend their holidays.
Some, like President Richard Nixon and President Ronald Reagan, traveled back to their homes in California for the holidays. Others, such as President Clinton and President George W. Bush, have opted for Thanksgiving trips to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland.
So when Trump heads to sunny Florida, he won’t be the only president to leave the White House for the autumn holiday. “It’s not unusual for the Trump family to travel for their holiday,” Costello said.
Sometimes, the holiday can be shaped by what’s happening in the world. In 1979, amid the Iran hostage crisis, President Carter requested special prayers for the hostages in a Thanksgiving statement.
So what does a typical, modern presidential Thanksgiving look like? Much like yours and mine, per the WHHA. In the days after the annual turkey pardoning — a tradition that officially began in the George H. W. Bush years — the first family hosts a meal (even if that meal is at the White House) and invite over close friends and family. President Obama and his family often spent the holiday in Washington.
“In a way, (Thanksgiving) nicely coincides with the history of the White House,” Costello said. “People seem to think the White House has never changed, but the traditions are injected by the occupants. They do their own unique thing, Democrat or Republican.”
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President Clinton, accompanied by Jim Cooper, chairman, National Turkey Federation, laughs while looking at Carl, a 35-pound turkey, wearing a White House visitors pass, which was presented to him at the White House Nov. 27, 1996. After the ceremony, the president continued a tradition begun by President Harry Truman 49 years ago by pardoning the turkey and sending it off to life in a Virginia petting farm. Â
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