Two White House-bound turkeys can thank good looks and personality for saving their lives.The 45-pound birds endured months of rigorous training and rose to the head of a class of 20,000 feathered friends vying for a pardon from the dreaded Thanksgiving Day buffet.President Obama on Wednesday continued a tradition of sparing turkeys from the chopping block, as each of his predecessors since George H.W. Bush has done. The National Turkey Federation has presented a bird to the president for more than 60 years, but the early honorees often became dinner."It feels pretty good to stop at least one shellacking this November," the president joked.Apple is the official National Thanksgiving Turkey and Cider is the alternate. The NTF brings two birds each year in case a backup is needed. Both get pardoned, but only one gets to be the official turkey.The names were chosen from hundreds of submissions from students who participated in California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, a program where they learned about how the turkey was raised.
