In fact, Obama is just following a little-known tradition in Washington.
At least since the Roosevelt era, the practice of signing important bills with a few pens has now become a small quirk of the US government.
There is a simple reason. The pen used to sign the historic bill itself will become a historic object. The more pens the president uses, the more gifts he can give to those who contribute to the legislative process. The White House usually engraves these pens and gives them to the main advocates and supporters of the new law.
1964, when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, it was said that he used more than 75 pens.
But how can I use so many signatures? Do you write pen by pen in print? Will the handwriting appear incoherent and crooked? What if the letter is finished?
When Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in June, 5438+October, 2009/KLOC-0, he used seven pens. He joked, "I've practiced."
President Kennedy came up with an idea. If he needs to write more letters, his middle name will not be abbreviated, but will be spelled completely, and a decorative ending will be added under his name.
After the pens signed by the president are sent out, some of them are finally sent to the museum, and the other part is displayed in the recipient's office or home.
But not every president likes this. George W. Bush once signed a bill with only one pen, and then gave away some unused pens as souvenirs. Even the important legislation such as the Homeland Security Law, George W. Bush also brushed aside. It is said that he put the pen in his pocket afterwards.
In addition, fonts are used for anti-counterfeiting: when signed with a pen, they will be coherent and easy to be imitated. If you change a few more pens, you have to write with a new pen, and the words written will be very different from those written with a pen. Moreover, many heads of state sign with their left hands, because most people write with their right hands, so it is difficult to imitate left-handed signatures.