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Smart Mouth
The Official Turkey Pardon
Nov 21, 2023
Delve into the history and tradition of the White House Turkey Pardon, including interesting stories of past presidents and their interactions with turkeys. Explore the origins and darker side of turkey pardoning, with connections to lobbyists and arms dealings. Plus, an entertaining proposal of free mashed potatoes for all during Thanksgiving.
05:19
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Quick takeaways
- The tradition of sending dead turkeys to the White House stopped when turkey farmers started sending live birds instead, leading to unconventional meats like raccoon and quail being sent.
- The turkey pardoning tradition at the White House was started by lobbyists and named to distract from arms dealings, but ultimately covers the darker aspects of the justice system with sweetness and light.
Deep dives
The White House Turkey Tradition and Calvin Coolidge's Pet Raccoon
The podcast episode explores the odd and dark tradition of the White House Turkey Pardon. It mentions that in the early 1900s, live animals were sent to the White House in November, including a Mississippi farmer sending a raccoon to President Coolidge. Although Coolidge did not eat the raccoon, he kept her as a pet during his administration. The podcast also mentions that the tradition of sending dead turkeys to the White House stopped when turkey farmers started sending live birds instead. Coolidge initially decided to buy pre-killed birds, but eventually relented under pressure from the agriculture lobby, leading to a variety of unconventional meats being sent, including a raccoon and a quail.
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Discover
highlights
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