Pardon me!

By Sarah Eberspacher, Lauren Hansen

last updated 25 November 2015

Thanksgiving: A day of food, family, and football.

Or fear, if you're a turkey.

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But informally, the tradition may be even older. Abraham Lincoln's son Tad is rumored to have begged his father to allow a turkey meant for Christmas dinner to live. John F. Kennedy, meanwhile, opted out of dressing the White House bird in 1963, saying, "We'll just let this one grow." And Richard Nixon instituted the tradition of sending the birds to a petting zoo after the photo ops were finished.

Lauren Hansen produces The Weekâ€™s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.

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