Why Obama used 22 pens to write a single signature?

March 25th, 2010 → 6:00 pm @    

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Barack Obama, president of the United States of America used multiple pens to write a single signature on the historic Healthcare Bill on March 23, 2010 (Obama can be seen in the picture signing the bill at the Whitehouse).

What may surprise you that he did not use one or two but twenty- two same writing instruments. If you closely observe the signature in the picture below you will see the breaks in the continuity of the alphabets which proves that the signature was not done in a single shot; specially the way letter ‘O’ has been drawn.

This seems pretty weird prima facie but when you get to know the reason behind this you are simply astounded.

Time magazine explains the rationale –

“The pen used to sign historic legislation itself becomes a historical artifact. The more pens a President uses, the more thank-you gifts he can offer to those who helped create that piece of history. The White House often engraves the pens, which are then given as keepsakes to key proponents or supporters of the newly signed legislation.”

Update: Here’s a video from White House where Staff Secretary Lisa Brown explains why Presidents of America use so many pens to sign important or historic legislations.

All the President’s Pens from The White House on Vimeo.

Who wouldn’t fancy such a thank you gift? Pretty interesting isn’t it?

[courtsey: digital inspiration]

For Further Reading:

  1. Utility of Digital Signature in India

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Co-Founder & Editor of MightyLaws.in. She is currently pursuing BA.LLB(Hons) from National Law Institute University, Bhopal. She has a strong belief that increasing legal awareness is the key to ensure social justice and simplification of law is the means to achieve it.

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