Pres. Obama before pardoning turkeys ahead of #Thanksgiving: "America is after all a country of second chances." pic.twitter.com/8AwDerS13K
— ABC News (@ABC) November 25, 2015
Pres. Obama formally pardons turkeys Honest and Abe ahead of #Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/WquaAnidll
— ABC News (@ABC) November 25, 2015
The two turkeys, Honest and Abe, will get a reprieve from the oven and will spend their remaining days living on a nearby Virginia farm.
Both birds hail from California, are 18 weeks old and weigh in at about 42 pounds each. Honest has a red face and neck, while Abe's crown features more extensive blue splotches.
George H.W. Bush was the first president to formally pardon a Thanksgiving turkey, though stories of spared turkeys date back to Abraham Lincoln's presidency.