This photograph of President Barack Obama with his daughters Sasha and Malia Obama was taken by Matthew D'Agostino for the White House Historical Association at the annual White House turkey pardon ceremony on November 25, 2015. During the ceremony, President Barack Obama pardoned Abe, who he jokingly titled "TOTUS," or "Turkey of the United States," and also extended a pardon to an alternate turkey, Honest. The turkeys, gifted to the White House by the National Turkey Federation, were raised near Central Valley, California and named by local schoolchildren. Following the ceremony, the turkeys were taken to a barn called the “White House on Turkey Hill” at Morven Park, a 1,000-acre estate in Leesburg, Virginia, that was once home to Westmoreland Davis, the 48th governor of Virginia.

The origin of the turkey pardon is said to have started with President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, after he offered clemency to a turkey purchased for Christmas dinner at his son's request. The pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey became a formalized tradition during the Ronald Reagan administration.