Washington (AP) On Monday, President Joe Biden began his last holiday season at the White House by giving two turkeys the customary reprieve, allowing them to spend their remaining days in southern Minnesota instead of at the Thanksgiving table.
Following a half-century in Washington power circles, the 82-year-old president greeted 2,500 visitors to the South Lawn under sunny skies while making jokes about Peach and Blossom’s fates and sounding nostalgic about the final weeks of his presidency.
It has been my greatest honor. “I will always be grateful,” Biden stated, referring to his departure on January 20, 2025. The Republican president-elect Donald Trump, whom Biden defeated four years ago and was running against again until he was forced to withdraw due to worries about his age and viability, will take over at that point.
Named after the official flower of the president’s home state of Delaware, Biden enjoyed the brief ceremony with the pardoned turkeys.
During his remarks, which were sometimes cut short by a peach munching on the table to Biden’s right, he declared, “One of my favorites is the peach pie in my state.” Biden once remarked, “Peach is making a last-minute plea,” to the amusement of an overflowing audience that included members of the Cabinet, White House employees and their families, as well as children from Future Farmers of America chapters and 4H programs.
Biden presented Peach as a bird that embodies the maxim, “Remain composed and keep eating.” “No fowl play” is Blossom’s alternative motto, the president stated. Nice, just like Minnesota.
John Zimmerman’s farm, close to the city of Northfield in southern Minnesota, is where Peach and Blossom originated. As head of the National Turkey Federation, which has been presenting Thanksgiving turkeys to American presidents since the Truman administration following World War II, Zimmerman has bred almost 4 million turkeys. But President Harry Truman wanted to eat the birds instead. It was not until President George H.W. Bush’s administration in 1989 that formal pardon ceremonies were established as a yearly White House custom.
Peach and Blossom will spend their remaining years at Farmamerica, an agricultural interpretive site in southern Minnesota, close to Waseca, thanks to their presidential reprieve. Promoting agriculture and educating aspiring farmers and others about American agriculture are the center’s goals.
The official White House Christmas tree, which will be on display in the Blue Room, will be delivered to first lady Jill Biden later Monday. After that, the Bidens will head to New York City for an evening Friendsgiving gathering at a Staten Island Coast Guard station.
___ Contributions were made by Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and Darlene Superville in Washington.
The Associated Press, 2024. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. It is prohibited to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this content without authorization.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!