This Thursday, Americans all across the country will be sitting down with their families for Thanksgiving dinner, staring at a beautifully roasted turkey, ready to dig in.  However, the United States President will be doing something much different.

Beginning in the 1860s with Abraham Lincoln, occasionally, United States Presidents would pardon the turkey of which they were presented on Thanksgiving day. This would grow to be more popular by the 1940s. However, it was not until 1989 that George H. W. Bush would make the pardoning of the turkey an official tradition that would be performed at the White House each Thanksgiving.

This year President Obama will pardon his last turkey; his two-term service as POTUS will end in January.  The two turkeys President Obama pardoned on November 22nd of this year were named “Tater” and “Tot”.  The two turkeys were introduced to America today and their names were announced on the White House Twitter account, @WhiteHouse.