Turkey pardons can be traced back to President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Historians claim he spared a turkey's life after his son, Tad, befriended it. But yearly pardoning became an "official" tradition under George H W Bush, when the former president pardoned a turkey in 1989 as animal-rights activists protested nearby.

President Joe Biden will pardon two turkeys, Peach and Blossom, in a longstanding Thanksgiving tradition at the White House. At 4 months old, the 40-pound turkeys hail from Minnesota. Both arrived in Washington, D.C., over the weekend and stayed at a fancy hotel near the White House.

President Biden pardoned the turkeys Peach and Blossom for the traditional presidential pardon ahead of Thanksgiving, which marks the start of Biden’s last holiday season at the White House. “This event marks the official start of the holiday season here is Washington.

President Joe Biden pardoned the national Thanksgiving turkeys on Monday, as families throughout the United States prepare for their own holiday feasts. Biden pardoned this year’s turkeys Peach and Blossom at 11 a.

President Biden is set to officially pardon turkeys Peach and Blossom in a pre-Thanksgiving White House tradition first started by President Truman in 1947. The turkeys will return to a Minnesota farm to live out their lives in serenity.