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The President's Daily Brief
November 27th, 2025: Mike Baker’s Thanksgiving Message to PDB Listeners
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It's Thursday, the 27th of November. Well, look at that. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Well, for those of you watching and listening in the US Today, of course, is Thanksgiving. Now, if you're like me, and frankly, I wouldn't wish that on any of you, you probably have spent the better part of this month eagerly awaiting one of the greatest American holiday events of the calendar year. I refer, of course, to what took place just the other day at the White House, the time honored tradition of the presidential pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey, or turkeys, also referred to as the most awkward White House photo op ever misconceived. Now, I thought, instead of the usual Thanksgiving morning message about gratefulness and how you shouldn't talk politics with family members, I thought the BDB could explain in brief the history of the turkey pardoning ceremony. After all, our job here is to keep you as informed as possible. And so, without further delay, it was Abraham Lincoln, as I recall, who himself once said, turkey. Meh. Not a fan, but who famously first pardoned a turkey around Christmas time because, well, his son had taken a shine to it. Poll numbers that followed that unexpected event showed that the public appreciated Lincoln's decisive action. And since that time, presidents have been riding Abe's coattails in an effort to suck up to the public around the holidays. Now, not every president carried out the tradition. It was rumored that Truman had no interest in the pardon, in part because he found turkey to be delicious and also because he was too busy dealing with a Post World War II World and ensuing Cold War. According to the obscure Truman biographer, I believe it was Spanky McAllister, Truman once commented to Bess, hardening that damn turkey will just make me look weak to the commies. End quote. As traditions go, it ranks right up there. Somewhere in between the White House Easter Egg Roll and and the lesser known White House Wiffle Ball tournament that's held every June, two large turkeys, both unaware of the impending drama, are brought to the White House in the back of a Butterball truck, wheeled out to the South Lawn and somewhere appropriate for large birds and told to stand quietly in front of a mob of photographers and press. At some point, usually just before the birds begin acting up, the President, accompanied by, I believe, the Secretary of the Poultry and a couple minions from the Ministry of Thanksgiving, stroll out to greet the gaggle of journalists. In past ceremonies, Presidents would use the occasion to display their keen wit and knack for making turkey related puns it was Grover Cleveland who famously used the event every year to recite Thanksgiving themed off color limericks. The ceremony was almost permanently canceled, though in the early 1900s as a result of what has since become known in Washington, D.C. as the Taft Incident. William Howard Taft, as you'll recall, was not only president, but fancied himself a bit of a barbecue, know it all. During his first turkey pardoning ceremony, he marched out to the lawn, pronounced one turkey pardoned, and then immediately plunged the other into a deep fryer set up just in front of the press corps. Some of the attendees were horrified, although everyone agreed that the deep frying made for a much tastier, moist holiday treat. And now, this week, it was President Trump's turn. In today's politically charged, highly partisan environment, half of America was undoubtedly hoping for an inspirational moment of poultry diplomacy, while the other half, of course, was hoping for a train wreck of a ceremony. Trump, being in a magnanimous mood, pardoned both turkeys. I believe their names were Gobble and Waddle. Now, the event did go smoothly, but honestly, every turkey pardoning ceremony since the very first has carried an air of danger and potential chaos. As a betting man, I usually put the chances of the ceremony going sideways at 50, 50, possibly something less shocking than the Taft incident, but more alarming than the time that Woodrow Wilson got bit on the groin and declared to the press that neither of these bast bastards deserves a pardon. End quote. See, the problem is, anybody with show business experience will tell you it's tough working with animal acts. They're unpredictable, inclined to bite, and, and oftentimes ill mannered, particularly when hungry, tired, or feeling disrespected. But honestly, it's not like you can ask the press not to show up. Then you throw in a couple of turkeys and, well, you can see why. As Nixon once said, there's nothing more dangerous to the Republic than some unruly turkey questioning the authority of the President. And that, my friends, is a brief history of the White House turkey pardoning ceremony. Feel free to share what you've learned this morning with family and friends as you gather around the Thanksgiving table. And remember, the day is about gratefulness for family, for friends, and for whatever blessings life has thrown your way. Even when you feel you don't have much or life has dealt you a tough hand, there's always someone with less. There's always someone dealing with a bigger problem. If you can wake up every morning and quietly say thank you to whatever higher authority you believe in, well, you'll be living the meaning of Thanksgiving every day. Everyone here at the PDB wishes every one of you a very happy Thanksgiving. We're grateful that you're a member of the PDB community. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow morning with our regular PDB programming schedule. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.