The final twist in the (first) fiscal cliff saga: How did the
bill get signed By President Barack Obama? Headed for Hawaii, Obama
bolted Washington following the House’s passage of the fiscal cliff
compromise on New Year’s Day before signing it. Have no fear, the
autopen is here. Here’s 10 fast facts about the automatic signature
machine that was used to ink the fiscal cliff legislation:
(
Also on POLITICO: Obama signs bill to avert fiscal cliff, via autopen)
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1. President Harry Truman is believed to be the first
sitting president to use the modern autopen reguarly. eBay even had a
Truman signed thank-you-note for sale, as Gawker
noted.
But Time Magazine
said President Thomas Jefferson was a fan of the polygraph, a new invention at the time that recorded his signature.
2. Obama has used it before, including to sign an extension of the
U.S.A. PATRIOT Act in May 2011 because he was in France at a G-8 Summit,
CBS News
reported at the time.
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3. It’s legal. President George W. Bush
commissioned
the U.S. Department of Justice to look into the auto pen’s
constitutionality. The result: A 29-page opinion saying it’s legal. But
Bush didn’t risk the controversy and never used it to sign legislation,
according to ABC News.
4. While Bush avoided it, his Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld didn’t. Rumsfeld was
criticized in 2004 for autopenning condolence letters to families of soldiers killed in the Iraq war. One of the relatives
told
The Guardian at the time: “He had time for golf and the ranch but not
enough to sign a decent signature with a pen for his beloved hero
soldiers.”
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5. There’s an entire book dedicated to the auto pen. In 1965, Charles
Hamilton published “The Robot That Helped to Make a President,” about
how President John F. Kennedy
used the machine.
6. In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle
blamed a staffer for using the autopen to sign a letter asking for an imprisoned GOP donor be sent to a minimum security prison.
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7. It’s more personal than a printer. That’s because presidents have
different forms of signatures, including signatures that are digitally
printed. White House officials
told The Associated Press in 2011 that the autopen signature is generally used “for more personalized correspondence.”
8. Machines range from $2,000 to $10,000, according to The AP.
9. Former Enron chairman Ken Lay’s legal team argued in 2006 that Lay
shouldn’t face banking charges because he didn’t sign some of the bank
forms — an autopen did, Highbeam Business
reported at the time. Lay was ultimately convicted.
10. Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan had bills flown to
Turkey and China, respectively, so they wouldn’t have to sign major
pieces of legislation with the autopen, NPR
reported in 2011.
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