Did Benjamin Franklin Want the National Bird To Be A Turkey?

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A photo of two wild turkeys outside under a tree


The story about Benjamin Franklin wanting the National Bird to be a turkey is just a myth. This false story began due to a letter Franklin wrote to his daughter criticizing the original eagle design for the Great Seal, saying that it looked more like a turkey. In the letter, Franklin wrote that the “Bald Eagle...is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly…[he] is too lazy to fish for himself.”

About the turkey, Franklin wrote that in comparison to the bald eagle, the turkey is “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America...He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage.” So, although Benjamin Franklin defended the honor of the turkey against the bald eagle, he did not propose it become one of America’s most important symbols.

More: 7 Things Ben Franklin Never Said
Always quick with a bon mot, Benjamin Franklin has been quoted and paraphrased endlessly. The problem?
He didn’t say everything that’s been attributed to him.