What does the U.S. President do for the "first turkey" for Thanksgiving?

For the Thanksgiving turkey, the U.S. President ceremonially pardons it and saves it from being eaten. The event is formally called the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation: the National Turkey Federation presents a live turkey to the president shortly before Thanksgiving, and the bird is spared from the holiday table.

The tradition has a more complicated history than the familiar ceremony suggests. Presidents received Thanksgiving turkeys as gifts as early as 1873, while the organized annual presentation began in 1947 during Harry Truman’s administration. John F. Kennedy publicly spared a turkey in 1963, telling staff to let it grow, although he did not use the word “pardon.”

George H. W. Bush made the presidential turkey pardon an established annual ceremony in 1989. Two birds are now typically involved: the principal turkey and an alternate. Both are spared, although their later homes and survival have varied because commercial turkeys are bred for rapid growth and large size.