Obama set to pardon 2 turkeys before Thanksgiving holiday

Washington: President Barack Obama will soon spare two turkeys named for one of the nation's most admired presidents, continuing a White House tradition for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The White House says Obama will pardon "Honest" and his alternate, "Abe." The two turkeys will get a reprieve from the oven and will spend their remaining days living on a nearby Virginia farm.

George H W Bush was the first president to formally pardon a Thanksgiving turkey, though stories of spared turkeys date back to Abraham Lincoln's presidency in the 1860s.