View source for Autopen

{{Short description|Device for automatically signing a signature or autograph}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2024}}
{{Globalize|2 = United States|date=November 2022}}
[[File:CHECK SIGNING MACHINE IN TREASURY DEPARTMENT; OPERATED BY J.L. SUMMERS LCCN2016868985.jpg|thumb|U.S. Treasury Department check-signing machine, operated by J.&nbsp;L. Summers in 1918]]
An '''automatic pen''', or '''autopen''' (informally known as a '''signing machine'''), is a mechanical device used for the replicated signing of a human signature. 

Prominent individuals may be asked to provide their signatures many times a day, such as celebrities receiving requests for [[autograph]]s, or politicians signing documents and correspondence in their official capacities. Consequently, many public figures employ autopens to allow their signature to be printed on demand and without their direct involvement.<ref name = Seabrook>{{cite web |url= https://www.npr.org/2011/05/27/136717719/obama-wields-his-autopen |first= Andrea |last= Seabrook |title= Obama Wields His ... Autopen? |date= May 27, 2011  |work= NPR}}</ref> 

Twenty-first-century autopens are machines programmed with a signature subsequently reproduced by a motorized mechanical arm.<ref name = Rein>{{cite news |last= Rein |first= Lisa |title= Washington's Signature-Writing Machines Rumble Into The Digital Age |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/washingtons-signature-writing-machines-rumble-into-the-digital-age/2014/04/11/3bb38bc0-afad-11e3-a49e-76adc9210f19_story.html |access-date= April 11, 2014 |newspaper= [[The Washington Post]]|date= April 11, 2014 |page= A1}}</ref>

Given the similarity to the real hand signature, a use of an autopen allows for [[plausible deniability]] as to whether a famous autograph is real or reproduced, thus increasing the perception of the personal value of the signature by the recipient. However, known or suspected autopen signatures are also vastly less valuable as [[Facsimile#Facsimiles in the age of mechanical reproduction|philographic]] collectibles; legitimate hand-signed documents from individuals known also to use an autopen usually require verification and [[provenance]] to be considered valid. In 2005, the [[United States Department of Justice]] responded to an inquiry regarding the use of autopen by the President of the United States, finding its use consistent with the language found in Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.justice.gov/file/494411/dl?inline |title= Whether the President May Sign a Bill by Directing That His Signature Be Affixed to It |publisher=Department of Justice}}</ref>

Early autopens used a plastic ([[Poly(methyl methacrylate)|PMMA]]) [[Matrix (printing)|matrix]] of the original signature, which is a channel cut into an engraved plate in the shape of a wheel. A stylus driven by an electric motor followed  the [[Cartesian coordinate system|x- and y-axis]] of a [[profile (engineering)|profile]] or shape engraved in the plate. The stylus is [[Pantograph|mechanically connected]] to an arm which can hold almost any common writing instrument, so that one's pen and ink can be used to suggest authenticity. The autopen signature is made with even pressure and indentation in the paper, which is how these machines are distinguishable from original handwriting where the pressure varies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realsig.com/Autopen.htm |title=The Autopen |publisher=The Autopen Company  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005215904/http://www.realsig.com/autopen.htm |archive-date=October 5, 2013 }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Autopen Model 50 from the International Autopen Company.jpg|thumb|The Autopen Model 50 from the [[International Autopen Company]]]]
The first signature duplicating machines were developed by [[British Americans|British American]] inventor [[John Isaac Hawkins]], who received a United States patent for his device in 1803, called a [[Polygraph (duplicating device)|polygraph]] (an abstracted version of the [[pantograph]]) in which the user may write with one pen and have their writing simultaneously reproduced by an attached second pen. [[Thomas Jefferson]] used the device extensively during his presidency.<ref name = Seabrook/> This device bears little resemblance to today's autopens in design or operation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Benac |first= Nancy |agency= [[Associated Press]]|title=Obama's Signature: Is It Real Or Is It Autopenned? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615184323/https://news.yahoo.com/obamas-signature-real-autopenned-122724800.html |archive-date=June 15, 2013 |url= https://news.yahoo.com/obamas-signature-real-autopenned-122724800.html |access-date=January 5, 2013|newspaper=[[Yahoo News|Yahoo! News]]|date=June 27, 2011}}</ref>

The autopen called the Robot Pen was developed in the 1930s, and became commercially available in 1937 to record a signer's signature, used as a storage unit device, similar in principle to how vinyl records store information. A small segment of the record could be removed and stored elsewhere to prevent misuse. The machine would then be able to mass-produce a template signature when needed.<ref>{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_toDAAAAMBAJ&q=Popular+Science+1933+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA657 |title= Robot Pen Copies Handwriting From A Record |journal= Popular Mechanics |date= May 1937 |page= 657}}</ref>

While the Robot Pen was commercially available, the first commercially successful autopen was developed by Robert M. De Shazo Jr., in 1942.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://signaturemachine.com/company/about.htm |title= The Autopen: We've Been At It Since The Very Beginning |publisher= Automated Signature Technology |access-date= April 21, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131211223026/http://signaturemachine.com/company/about.htm |archive-date= December 11, 2013  }}</ref> De Shazo developed the technology that became the modern autopen in reference to a Request For Quote (RFQ) from the Navy, and in 1942, received an order for the machine from the [[United States Secretary of the Navy]].<ref name = Rein/> This was the beginning of a significant market in government for the autopen, as the machines soon ended up in the offices of members of Congress, the Senate and the Executive branches. At one point, De Shazo estimated there were more than 500 autopens in use in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Lynne Cheney |last=Cheney |first=Lynne |title=The Autopen |url=http://signaturemachine.com/company/washingtonian.pdf |access-date=April 11, 2014 |newspaper=[[Washingtonian (magazine)|Washingtonian]] |date=August 1983  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423053734/http://signaturemachine.com/company/washingtonian.pdf |archive-date=April 23, 2014 }}</ref>

==Use==
Individuals who use autopens often do not disclose this publicly. Signatures generated by machines are valued less than those created manually, and perceived by their recipients as somewhat inauthentic.<ref>{{cite journal |last= McClain |first= Buzz |title= Sincerely Yours, This Machine Does Not Exist |url= http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/entertainment/entertainment-features/2013/07/29/sincerely-yours-this-machine-does-not-exist/ |access-date= April 21, 2014 |journal= [[Northern Virginia Magazine]] |date= July 2013 |archive-date= April 20, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140420025022/http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/entertainment/entertainment-features/2013/07/29/sincerely-yours-this-machine-does-not-exist/ |url-status= live }}</ref> In 2004, [[Donald Rumsfeld]], then the [[United States Secretary of Defense|U.S. Secretary of Defense]], incurred criticism after it was discovered that his office used an autopen to sign letters of condolence to families of American soldiers who were killed in war.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/dec/20/iraq.usa|title = Signature row turns up heat on Rumsfeld|newspaper = [[The Guardian]]|date = December 20, 2004|access-date = November 25, 2022|last = Glaister|first = Dan}}</ref> 

Outside of politics, it was reported in November 2022 that some copies of ''[[The Philosophy of Modern Song]]'', a book by singer-songwriter [[Bob Dylan]] that had been published earlier that month, had been signed with an autopen, resulting in criticism. Autographed editions had been marketed as "hand-signed" and priced at US$600 each. Both Dylan and the book's publisher, [[Simon & Schuster]], issued apologies; refunds were also offered to customers who had bought autopen-signed editions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Willman |first=Chris |date=November 20, 2022 |title=Bob Dylan Fans Who Bought $600 'Hand-Signed' Books With Replica Autographs Will Receive Refunds From Publisher |url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-book-replica-autographs-autopen-philosophy-modern-song-refunds-1235438173/ |access-date=November 23, 2022 |website=[[Variety (magazine) | Variety]] |language=en-US |archive-date=November 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122233950/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-book-replica-autographs-autopen-philosophy-modern-song-refunds-1235438173/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition, Dylan also said that some prints of his artwork sold after 2019 had been signed with an autopen, which he further apologized for and attributed his use of the machine to [[vertigo]] and the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the latter of which prevented him from meeting with staff to facilitate signing the works in question.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 26, 2022|first=Chris|language=en-US|last=Willman|title=Bob Dylan Says He 'Regrets' an 'Error in Judgment' in Selling Machine-Signed Art and Books: 'I Want to Rectify It Immediately'|url=https://variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-regrets-autopen-signatures-art-books-apology-1235442296/|website=[[Variety (magazine) | Variety]]|archive-date=November 28, 2022|access-date=November 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128111337/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/bob-dylan-regrets-autopen-signatures-art-books-apology-1235442296/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===U.S. presidents===
[[File:Portrait of President Nixon with autopen signature - NARA - 194771.tif|thumb|Portrait of U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] with autopen signature]]
A precursor to the autopen was an instrument called the [[Polygraph (duplicating device)|polygraph]] (which is not related to the [[Polygraph|modern device]] of the same name). While a person using the polygraph wrote an original document on one side of the machine, the device would mechanically facsimile a copy on the opposite side. When President [[Thomas Jefferson]] discovered the device, he purchased two: one for the White House, and one for his home at [[Monticello]]. Although the device could only make copies at the same time that a user was creating an original, a fully automated version was invented in the 1930s. According to ''National Journal'', some sources say that [[Harry S. Truman]] was the first U.S. president to use an autopen, though he limited his use of it to signing checks and answering mail. The first president to sign legislation with it was [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Resnick |first=Brian |title=When a Robot Signs a Bill: A Brief History of the Autopen |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/when-a-robot-signs-a-bill-a-brief-history-of-the-autopen/454803/ |access-date=March 18, 2025|newspaper=[[National Journal]] |date=January 3, 2013|archive-date=March 16, 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230316204714/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/when-a-robot-signs-a-bill-a-brief-history-of-the-autopen/454803/}}</ref> Others credit [[Gerald Ford]] as the first president to openly acknowledge his use of the autopen.<ref>{{cite news |author-link= Lynne Cheney |last= Cheney |first= Lynne |title= The Autopen |url= http://www.damilic.com/info/newsroom/washingtoniana-the-autopen |access-date= January 1, 2013 |newspaper= [[Washingtonian (magazine)|Washingtonian]] |date= August 1983 |archive-date= April 23, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140423040151/http://www.damilic.com/info/newsroom/washingtoniana-the-autopen |url-status= live }}</ref> 

While visiting France, [[Barack Obama]] authorized the use of an autopen to create his signature, signing into law an extension of three provisions of the [[Patriot Act]].<ref>{{cite news |last= Mascaro |first= Lisa |title= Congress votes in time to extend key Patriot Act provisions |url= http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-patriot-act-20110527,0,7749454.story |access-date= May 27, 2011 |newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] |date= May 27, 2011}}</ref> On January 3, 2013, he signed the extension to the [[George W. Bush|Bush]] tax cuts, using the autopen while vacationing in Hawaii.<ref>{{cite news |first= Mary |last= Bruce |date= January 3, 2013 |url= https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/01/obama-signs-fiscal-cliff-bill-with-autopen/ |title= Obama Signs 'Fiscal Cliff' Bill with Autopen |work= ABC News |archive-date= June 30, 2020 |access-date= June 27, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200630114222/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/01/obama-signs-fiscal-cliff-bill-with-autopen |url-status= live }}</ref> In order to sign it by the required deadline, his other alternative would have been to have had the bill flown to him overnight.<ref>{{cite episode |title= ABC World News: Signing It Into Law |url= http://www.damilic.com/info/newsroom/signing-with-autopen |series= ABC World News with Diane Sawyer |series-link=ABC World News Tonight |author-link= Diane Sawyer |first= Diane |last= Sawyer |network= [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] |air-date= January 2, 2013 |access-date= January 6, 2013 |minutes= 6:30}}</ref> Republican leaders questioned whether this use of the autopen met the constitutional requirement for signing a bill into law,<ref>{{cite news |last= Jackson |first= David |title= Republicans protest Obama signing bill with autopen |url= http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/06/republican-protest-obama-bill-signing-with-autopen-/1 |work= [[USA Today]] |date= June 17, 2011 |archive-date= June 20, 2011 |access-date= June 19, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110620235335/http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/06/republican-protest-obama-bill-signing-with-autopen-/1 |url-status= live }}</ref> but the validity of presidential use of an autopen had not been actually tested in court.<ref>{{cite news |first= Mark |last= Knoller |date= November 18, 2011 |url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-uses-autopen-again-to-sign-bill-into-law/ |title= Obama uses autopen, again, to sign bill into law |work= [[CBS News]] |archive-date= February 26, 2025 |access-date= September 1, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250226104847/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-uses-autopen-again-to-sign-bill-into-law/ |url-status= live }}</ref> In 2005, George W. Bush asked for and received a favorable opinion from the Department of Justice regarding the constitutionality of using the autopen, but did not use it.<ref name="DoJ2005">{{cite report|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/attachments/2015/05/28/op-olc-v029-p0097.pdf|title=Whether The President May Sign a Bill by Directing That His Signature Be Affixed To It|last=Nielson|first=Howard C. Jr.|date=July 7, 2005|publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019005307/https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/whether-president-may-sign-bill-directing-his-signature-be-affixed-it|archive-date=19 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first= Kevin |last= Cirilli |date= January 3, 2013 |url= https://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/autopen-barack-obama-10-facts-85720.html |title= 10 facts about the 'autopen |work= [[Politico]] |archive-date= January 6, 2013 |access-date= January 3, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130106032709/http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/autopen-barack-obama-10-facts-85720.html |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-12-05 |title=Office of Legal Counsel {{!}} Whether the President May Sign a Bill by Directing That His Signature Be Affixed to It {{!}} United States Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/whether-president-may-sign-bill-directing-his-signature-be-affixed-it |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref>

In May 2024, [[Joe Biden]] directed an autopen be used to sign legislation providing a one-week funding extension for the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]. Biden was traveling in [[San Francisco]] at the time, and wished to avoid any lapse in FAA operations, while a five-year funding bill was being voted on by Congress.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Saenz |first1=Arlette |title=Biden signs one week FAA extension via autopen |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/politics/biden-week-faa-extension-autopen/index.html |website=CNN.com |date=May 10, 2024 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=10 May 2024 |archive-date=May 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240510222727/https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/politics/biden-week-faa-extension-autopen/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2025, President [[Donald Trump|Trump]], while admitting that he sometimes uses an autopen,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trump admits to using autopen after declaring Biden's pardons void due to autopen |url=https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/trump-admits-to-using-autopen-after-declaring-biden-s-pardons-void-due-to-autopen-234691653807 |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=MSNBC |language=en}}</ref> said that pardons for members of the [[United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack|House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack]] issued during Biden's presidency are void due to them allegedly being signed by autopen. However, earlier in 2024, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit|Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals]] ruled that pardons do not have to be made in writing in ''Rosemond v. Hudgins''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Korte |first1=Gregory |last2=Dlouhy |first2=Jennifer |title=Trump Calls Biden Pardons 'Void' Because of Autopen Usage |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-17/trump-calls-biden-pardons-void-because-of-autopen-usage |access-date=March 17, 2025 |work=Bloomberg News |date=March 17, 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250317072117/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-17/trump-calls-biden-pardons-void-because-of-autopen-usage |archive-date=March 17, 2025 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rosemond v. Hudgins, No. 22-7188 (4th Cir. 2024) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca4/22-7188/22-7188-2024-02-13.html |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref> The following May, the [[House Oversight Committee]], led by Republican Representative [[James Comer]], announced an investigation into [[Age and health concerns about Joe Biden|Biden's health and mental fitness]] during his presidency, focusing specifically on Biden's use of an autopen.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nobles |first1=Ryan |last2=Zanona |first2=Melanie |title=House Republicans to zero in on autopen use as part of investigation into Biden's health |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-republicans-autopen-investigation-biden-health-rcna208138 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=31 May 2025 |date=21 May 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Fuchs |first1=Hailey |title=Comer calls Biden’s physician, former aides to sit for interviews |url=https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/05/22/congress/comer-probes-bidens-fitness-00365560 |publisher=[[Politico]] |access-date=31 May 2025 |date=22 May 2025}}</ref> In September 2025, Trump unveiled a sequence of portraits of serving and past presidents of the United States, in which Biden's portrait was replaced by a photograph of an autopen signing his name<ref>{{Cite web |last=Superville |first=Darlene |date=2025-09-24 |title=Trump snubs Biden with autopen photo on new Presidential Walk of Fame |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-presidential-portraits-biden-autopen-white-house-e8624154e72631e723930ea549bb8910 |access-date=2025-11-15 |website=AP News |publisher=[[Associated Press]]|language=en}}</ref>. In October 2025, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee claimed that Biden's autopen pardons were invalid because of autopen use, and called for the Department of Justice to open a new investigation into the Biden administration.<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/28/biden-autopen-investigation-house-oversight-committee-report/</ref>


==Similar devices==
Further developing the class of devices known as autopens, Canadian author [[Margaret Atwood]] invented a device called the [[LongPen]], which allows audio and video conversation between the fan and author while a book is being signed remotely.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

==See also==
* [[Plotter]]
* [[John Hancock]]
* [[Rubber stamp (politics)]]
* [[Seals in the Sinosphere]]
* [[Telautograph]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Images/People/Sigs/Autopen.html A site with information on autopen signatures]
* [http://www.collectspace.com/resources/autographs_autopens.html collectSPACE: Identifying Astronaut Autopens]

[[Category:Machines]]
[[Category:Identity documents]]
[[Category:19th-century inventions]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:Pens]]