More: Those Virginians had a meager meal of ham or bacon from their stores and possibly some oysters dug from the James River, not turkey.

So for 60 years, presidents have pardoned the wrong critter.

But there's an emerging movement to set the record straight at long last.

More than 6,000 children have signed a petition to Mr. Bush to pardon Ginny (short for Virginia), a pig awaiting justice at the Virginia Zoo. Virginia Sen. John Warner (R) and Rep. Thelma Drake (R) have appealed to the chief executive for a pig pardon. Mayor Meyera Oberndorf (D) of Virginia Beach has issued her own pardon

During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln decided to create the holiday in an attempt to unify the nation. But for obvious reasons, he couldn't honor Virginia's history – so it became a Massachusetts holiday instead.