US President Barack Obama called for unity and acknowledged that many Americans were "hurting" as he sat down to Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday in a deeply divided Washington.
"This is not the hardest Thanksgiving America has ever faced. But as long as many members of our American family are hurting, we�ve got to look out for one another," Obama said in his annual Thanksgiving address.
"We won't do it as any one political party. We've got to do it as one people. And in the coming weeks and months, I hope that we can work together, Democrats and Republicans and Independents alike, to make progress."
Obama called 10 US soldiers, two each from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Marines, to thank them for their service and wish them a happy Thanksgiving before sitting down to a Turkey dinner with family and friends.
The White House menu included traditional fare such as ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese, in addition to five kinds of pie: apple, pumpkin, sweet potato, banana cream, cherry and huckleberry.
Obama marked the holiday this year under a cloud of political divisiveness just weeks after resurgent Republican rivals won back the House of Representatives and vowed to roll back his legislative agenda.
Noting a bipartisan meeting on Tuesday, Obama said it was time for "a real and honest discussion -- because I believe that if we stop talking at one another, and start talking with one another, we can get a lot done."
The Thanksgiving holiday saw millions of Americans gather around the table for a traditional turkey dinner with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.
The harvest festival is said to date back to 1621, when newly arrived pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts shared a feast with Native Americans who had helped them survive winter, though some historians have disputed this.
Obama said ahead of the feast that "just as folks have done in every Thanksgiving since the first, we�ll spend some time taking stock of what we�re thankful for: the God-given bounty of America, and the blessings of one another."
On Wednesday, Obama, his wife Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia handed out food donations at Martha's Table, a local charity that helps poor children, youth and families.
He called such community aid and the service of US troops around the world "emblematic of what Americans have always done."
"We come together and do what�s required to make tomorrow better than today. That�s who we are," he added.
In a traditional White House ceremony on the eve of the holiday, the president spared -- or "pardoned" -- the lives of two turkeys that would otherwise be the centerpieces of Thanksgiving meals.
Apple and Cider will now spend their final days at the estate of first US president George Washington in Mount Vernon, Virginia, just outside the US capital.
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