We all know where most turkeys end up on Thanksgiving. But for a lucky pair, a presidential pardon will save them from the table. The presidential turkey pardon is a wacky American tradition that some historians date back to President Harry Truman. The chairman of the National Turkey Federation, an organization that advocates on behalf of the turkey industry, gets the opportunity to oversee the presidential flock, and for current chair John Zimmerman, raising the birds is an “honor.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] And while they might not realize it, it’s an honor for the two lucky birds as well: “There’s some 40 million turkeys eaten on Thanksgiving,” says Zimmerman, a second-generation turkey farmer based in Northfield, Minn.