“Coexistence: what the farmer does with the turkey—until Thanksgiving”

“Coexistence: what the farmer does with the turkey—until Thanksgiving” is a saying that has been printed on many images, usually credited to American magazine reporter Mike Connolly (1914-1966). Connolly wrote in February 1959:
 
“What does the Kremlin mean by ‘peaceful coexistence?’ A reformed Commie screenwriter here in Hollywood defines it: ‘What the farmer does with the turkey until Thanksgiving.’”
 
The credit to Connolly is incorrect—the credit should really go to a “reformed Commie screenwriter.” The Cold War origin meant that the United States and the Soviet Union had a precarious “coexistence.”
 
U.S. President Ronald Reagan was quoted in New York magazine on July 21, 1980 for having said in September 1978 on the campaign trail:
 
“Détente—isn’t that what a farmer has with his turkey until Thanksgiving Day?”
 
“Coexistence: what the farmer does with the turkey—until Thanksgiving” is a popular Thanksgiving saying, but the political origin and uses of the saying are usually removed.
 
   
Wikipedia: Mike Connolly (columnist)
Mike Connolly (1914 – November 18, 1966) was an American magazine reporter and primarily a Hollywood columnist.
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From 1951 to 1966, Connolly was a gossip columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, a daily entertainment newspaper dealing with film and television productions, located in Los Angeles, California.
     
12 February 1959, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, Mike Connolly column, pg. 25, col. 8:
HOLLYWOOD.
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What does the Kremlin mean by “peaceful coexistence?” A reformed Commie screenwriter here in Hollywood defines it: “What the farmer does with the turkey until Thanksgiving.”
 
23 September 1959, Pittsburgh (PA) Press, “For Author’s Talks Here: Variety Of Topics In Cerf Stachel,” pg. 10, col. 1:
Bennett Cerf breezed into town yesterday with a two-suiter full of sage comments on books, television, American youth and Nikita Khrushchev’s U. S. tour.
 
Some samples from his over night bag:
 
On Khrushchev: “The peaceful coexistence that Khrushchev speaks of is like the peaceful coexistence that exists between the farmer and the turkey—until Thanksgiving Day.
 
19 November 1959, The State (Columbia, SC), “Wolfe Says Policy of US Tends Toward Atomic War,” pg. C1, col. 5:
He (Bertram D. Wolfe, an author—ed.) said “peaceful coexistence” is comparable to the farmer who lets a turkey “peacefully coexist” until Thanksgiving.
 
24 November 1959, Daily Defender (Chicago, IL), “Try and Stop Me” by Bennett Cerf, pg. 10, col. 1:
Mike Connolly defines “peaceful co-existence” as “what the farmer does with the turkey until Thanksgiving.”
 
Google Books
21 July 1980, New York magazine, pg. 21, col. 1:
“Détente—isn’t that what a farmer has with his turkey until Thanksgiving Day?”
(Said by Ronald Reagan in September 1978.—ed.)
   
History in an Hour
Ronald Reagan and The Cold War: a summary
Posted on February 6, 2011 by admin
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Reagan, a fervent anti-communist, had campaigned on an anti-detente ticket. What was détente, asked Reagan rhetorically in 1978: “Isn’t that what a turkey has with his farmer until Thanksgiving Day?”
 
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Kathy Meyer
‏@vkmeyer
Coexistence: what the farmer does with the turkey — until Thanksgiving. ~Mike Connolly
6:47 AM - 1 Nov 2016