# How can I tell if Obama signed this certificate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032 "2009-04-05T03:15:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/1 "2009-04-05T03:15:29Z")
Yesterday I received a letter with a certificate made out to my late father thanking him for his military service. He was a WWII era veteran. The certificate bears Barack Obama’s signature, or a facsimile thereof. The certificate is on dapple gray card stock. The signature appears in a thick black pen, like a Sharpie, so there are no subtle changes in pressure or ink flow. But it didn’t bleed through the paper. What do you think? BTW the timing is weird because he left the service in the 1960’s and died October 2007. So I don’t know why I’m getting this now. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/2 "2009-04-05T09:25:33Z")
No way would Obama have the time to sign shit like that. Under special circumstances he might actually personally sign a letter. Almost all the time they use a [signing machine.](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/04/weekinreview/betraying-john-hancock.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/3 "2009-04-05T12:07:04Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > No way would Obama have the time to sign shit like that. Thanks for the opinion. Kind of a poor choice of words though. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/4 "2009-04-05T13:01:44Z")
You might research the document itself. Somebody might have posted an on-line copy of their certificate (it sounds like a fairly impersonal mass-mailed document from your description, though I don’t think I’d call it “shit like that”) and compare the signatures. If they’re exactly identical, you’ve got a signing machine artifact. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/5 "2009-04-05T23:58:02Z")
I agree it’s exceedingly unlikely that the President would have either time or stamina to sign all such documents. The congressman I once worked for used an autopen for virtually all his correspondence, and he only had a single district to worry about. This might be useful to you: [Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](http://www.geocities.com/mattress00/fakes.html) ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/6 "2009-04-06T00:04:41Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > …Somebody might have posted an on-line copy of their certificate (it sounds like a fairly impersonal mass-mailed document from your description… Good idea. I didn’t find any signed by Obama but there a lot of older ones. I quickly found three signed by Bush with absolutely identical signatures, so it is mass mailed and not signed. It’s decent quality with a gold embossed eagle, but I have no idea what I’m going to do with this. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/7 "2009-04-06T00:04:46Z")
I got a form from the State Department a few weeks ago. Signed by Hilary herself. I think that office does at least a couple of hundred documents a day, so she must be due for some RSI real soon. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/8 "2009-04-06T00:09:00Z")
This thread brought this quote to mind: “You know, people have asked me, 'When did it hit you that you are now president?”’ he said. “And what I told them was the most sobering moment is signing letters to the families of our fallen heroes. It reminds you of the responsibilities that you carry in this office and the consequences of the decisions that you make.” From here: [http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-10-obama-coffins\_N.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-10-obama-coffins_N.htm) It seems to indicate that Obama does in fact sign letters to the families of deceased members of the military. I presume that refers to those currently serving, though. And it doesn’t explicitly rule out the possible use of a signing machine. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/9 "2009-04-06T01:51:30Z")
> [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](#): > > It seems to indicate that Obama does in fact sign letters to the families of deceased members of the military. I presume that refers to those currently serving, though. And it doesn’t explicitly rule out the possible use of a signing machine. I have read that he personally signs letters to families but only of those killed in the line of duty. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/10 "2009-04-06T04:14:21Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Thanks for the opinion. Kind of a poor choice of words though. My apologies, I was using the term loosely for “items”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/11 "2009-04-06T04:55:14Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I have read that he personally signs letters to families but only of those killed in the line of duty. JFK was notorious for using an autopen, but I read (I think in one of the William Manchester books) that he took the time to write a brief note to the next of kin of every U.S. servicemember killed in action during his administration. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2009, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/12 "2009-04-06T08:41:33Z")
I saw a letter signed by GHW Bush to the family of a deceased government worker. He died quietly in retirement after a colorful career. Most of it unofficial. There was a brief handwritten note which doesn’t seem strange given GHW’s previous employment history. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/13 "2009-04-07T00:00:21Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > My apologies, I was using the term loosely for “items”. Apology accepted, just kind of a sentimental item in this case. But that George Carlin bit was hilarious. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-tell-if-obama-signed-this-certificate/492032/14 "2009-04-07T00:14:38Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > My apologies, I was using the term loosely for “items”. George Carlin and Chad Feldheimer would both be proud.