Thomas Jefferson thought a Federal holiday for Thanksgiving was “the most ridiculous idea” ever conceived.
Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as the official United States bird, and was not happy when the bald eagle was chosen instead. In a letter to his daughter, Franklin referred to the eagle’s “bad moral character” and proclaimed “For my own part I wish the Eagle had not been chosen the representative of our country… For in Truth, the Turk’y is in comparison a much more respectable bird.” An apocryphal story has arisen that Benjamin Franklin named the male turkey “Tom” to spite Jefferson.
And so it goes
The Haus of Dcaligari 