President Gives Pardon to ‘One More Turkey in Washington’

WASHINGTON — President Clinton spared the life of a 60-pound turkey named Willis on Wednesday, the day before Americans carve up 45 million gobblers for Thanksgiving Day feasts.

In an annual tradition played out for half a century, since Harry S. Truman was president, Clinton accepted the national Thanksgiving Day turkey and pardoned it from the “ultimate sacrifice.”

“Now this marks the 50th year when we give one more turkey in Washington a second chance,” Clinton said in a Rose Garden ceremony at which the giant white bird sat placidly on a table, swiveling its red-wattled head around.

The 28-week-old turkey, named Willis for the man who raised him, came from the Tarheel Turkey Hatchery in Raeford, N.C., and had spent Tuesday night with its handlers in the Hotel Washington.

It was presented to Clinton by the National Turkey Federation before an audience that included children from a depressed area of Washington who participate in the Horton’s Kids program, in which volunteers provide tutoring to about 200 kids.

Clinton ordered Willis taken to Kidwell Farm in Herndon, Va., a replica of a 1930s working farm near Washington where children can see it and other surviving turkeys from past presidential reprieves.

“He’s on his way to a farm in Virginia to bask in the sun, collect his hard-earned pension and enjoy his golden years,” Clinton said.

After the turkey’s pardon, Hillary Rodham Clinton honored another tradition by taking delivery of the official White House Christmas tree, an 18 1/2-foot North Carolina fir tree that was pulled up to the residence by a horse-drawn carriage.

The Clintons, along with daughter Chelsea and close family, are traveling to the Camp David presidential retreat for the weekend, where they will have a traditional Thanksgiving of turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.