George W. Bush is the greatest President ever! (at signing autographs, that is.) – Obama could end up being the worst for the hounds
October 27, 2008 by Richard Budman ·
Hounding The Presidents for autographs
With U.S. presidential fever in high gear HoundsTV.com decided to investigate the autograph signing practices of the last few U.S. Presidents – and the future one. Autographs of the United States Presidents are some of the most coveted and valuable of all collectible signatures.
What did we discover after surveying professional autograph collectors in Cleveland, New York, and Toronto who have had vast experience hounding the Presidents?
The president soon to be leaving office – George W. Bush will probably go down as one of the best presidents for signing autographs. And the soon-to-be president – Barack Obama might just become one of the worst for being able to land that coveted in-person signature.
We should clarify that we are talking about the experiences and opinions of professional autograph collectors (often referred to as autograph hounds) who seek presidential autographs on photographs, baseballs, or maybe a magazine cover or book. We’re not talking about random people in the crowd who just happen to get a President or candidate to sign a scrap piece of paper or their t-shirt. Professionals try to get the “good stuff” signed as collecting signatures on industry recognized merchandise greatly enhances the value, demand, and collectibility of the autographed item. But because of this, some presidents and their aides do cast a more weary eye about which type of “professional merchandise” they choose to sign.
Ford, Carter, and Reagan
We also will just be talking about the presidents onward from Gerald Ford. It’s really from President Ford and on that autograph collectors we spoke to have had direct hounding experience with.
38th President of the United States Gerald Ford lived to a ripe old age of 93 and was active for many years in the public eye after leaving office. This provided professional autograph collectors numerous opportunities over the years to acquire a signature from Ford. Speaking engagements, dinners and book signings are all events Ford would regularly attend, providing perfect opportunities to obtain his autograph. Perhaps because Ford was not actually elected to the highest office in the land or because he did sign a lot of autographs – the value of his signature is generally considered lower than many of his presidential successors.
39th President of the United States Jimmy Carter is generally considered the easiest autograph of the living presidents to obtain. Carter still makes regular public appearances and has authored numerous books which have put him on the book signing circuit frequently – perhaps the best type of opportunity to get a president’s signature. While the trend today is to severely limit the signing of other memorabilia at book events (usually rules prohibit the signing of anything but the book) it is known that if you can catch Carter before or perhaps after a book signing – he is usually willing to sign a photograph or baseball.
Ronald Reagan signed a lot of autographs before he became the 40th President of the United States. Before his political years, Reagan was a popular actor so signing autographs came with that territory. But all professional collectors agree – autographs of “President” Reagan are much more valuable and sought after than signatures of “actor” Reagan. Because of Reagan’s advanced age and coming effects of Alzheimer’s disease – Reagan was only active in public life for a few short years after exiting the White House. This left few opportunities for collectors to have met Reagan in-person and get an item signed. Those that managed to meet Reagan do mention he was generally very good about signing items.
George H.W. Bush
With his advancing age, 41st President of the United States George H.W. Bush is making fewer appearances each year. Autograph hounds generally consider George Sr. to be a good signer when collectors have managed to get up close to him.
Professional autograph collector Brad remembers one memorable encounter with Bush Sr. in Toronto during 1997. Already having several positive encounters with Bush Sr. during the day, the ex-prez was making one more stop at a book store at night – a few of the many security assigned to the Bush entourage had come to realize that Brad was collecting for more professional purposes. When Bush Sr. overheard security telling Brad he is getting no more autographs – George interjected and said, “that’s ok. I’ll sign a few more for him. I like the kids being entrepreneurial.”
William Jefferson Clinton getting tougher on the autograph hounds
Former President William Jefferson Clinton has probably been the most sought after and “hounded” of the past presidents – Clinton was very popular and maybe the first president to really seep into pop culture and be labeled a “celebrity.”
All the hounds talked to concluded that Mr. Clinton has become much tougher with the professional autograph collectors during the last five years. Clinton and his team notice “professional” merchandise much more now and often try to avoid signing it (pro items being high quality photographs, baseball, other rare memorabilia whose value shoots through the roof when a presidential signature is attached to it.)
One autograph collector from Cleveland spoke of amazing opportunities for Clinton autographs earlier this year – when Bill was campaigning for wife Hillary during the Democratic primaries. This type of campaigning for an ex-president was a rare occurrence – as Clinton was making very public appearances at small venues like high schools and local restaurants. These types of places provided a great opportunity to get up close to Clinton. After almost every campaign stop – a Clinton aide would gather collector items from the crowd and Bill would sit at a table and sign the stuff.
YouTube video: The Hounds greets Bill Clinton on his arrival to a speaking event in Toronto. Clinton has his aide, Justin collect the items for which he will soon autograph.
President George W. Bush
President George W. Bush never met an autograph collectors pen and photo he didn’t like. From his days campaigning for the Republican leadership right through his presidency – W. has been very good to the professional autograph hounds. Of course, it can be a challenge when hounding presidents to find the right opportunity and position where you even have a chance to ask. But every professional collector asked about their experiences hounding the current president all said if you managed to get close enough to George W. he would always take items and sign them. And unlike Bill Clinton lately, George W. doesn’t really care what he signs. Photographs, magazines, baseballs (actually, W. really likes the baseballs) President Bush also does not usually use handlers for signing. Bush seems to prefer just taking the item himself from the crowd, signing it, and handing it back personally.
Say what you want about his presidency, the Hounds all agree, George W. Bush has been a great president at signing for them.
2008 Presidential Campaign – Obama autograph ten times the value of McCain (and 10 times harder to get since the dreaded Autopen has made a surprise appearance.)
HoundsTV.com spoke to quite a few hounds regarding their experiences collecting the autographs of the two current presidential candidates – Barack Obama and John McCain. All the collectors surveyed for this story summed it up like this, McCain is a great signer and Obama has proven very tough.
A few hounds mentioned that any success getting Senator Obama to sign “the good stuff” came much earlier during the campaign. The last few months the size of the crowds and intense security surrounding Obama have made opportunities for Obama’s autograph far and few between.
Even worse, the autograph collectors worst nightmare – the autopen has made it’s appearance on the Obama campaign trail. A President’s use of an autopen has traditionally been to help handle the large volume of mail-in autograph requests the White House receives. The Obama Campaign’s use of an autopen device on the campaign trail has been unprecedented. Yes, there are rare situations still where Senator Obama will personally take an item and sign it. But increasingly we hear stories about Obama aides taking items from people requesting autographs in the crowd – to some sort of area backstage – and using an autopen machine to affix Senator Obama’s signature. Pure autograph collectors and hounds DO NOT consider these items to contain a genuine signature.
photo: Vibe Magazine personally autographed by Barack Obama (NOT an autopen)
source: Autograph Magazine
Authentic Obama autographs on items like photographs, baseballs or books are going for big money right now. Because there is some confusion among professional collectors where and when Senator Obama is using the autopen – the stuff people know to be truly authentic and witnessed to be signed by Obama has been getting prices on ebay in the range of $1,000 to $2,000. More than double what the most former Presidents command. And much more than Senator John McCain autographed photos which have been known to trade in the $100 range this year.
Autograph hounds are actually much more interested in McCain’s running mate – Sarah Palin. Governor Palin has become a major political and pop culture figure during the 2008 election. That fact does not go unnoticed by autograph hounds. Collectors that have attempted to get Palin to sign have reported great success from the Palin campaign trail. “Palin has been a signing machine” – reports one New York collector. With some people already mentioning Palin as a possible future leader of the Republican party – the Hounds just might have gotten a jump on a future presidential signature.
About the sources for this story:
This post was created from recent interviews with a few professional autograph collectors. As well, the post author’s own experiences photographing the presidents.
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I met Obama last year and he signed my t-shirt. At a rally last month, Obama said he couldn’t sign autographs today. Who cares if Bush signs autographs? I would not want it.
Obama wasn’t using an autopen backstage. His aides would take the items and lay them side-by-side on a table so Obama could quickly sign them all. Also, an autopen would have put identical signatures on all the items.
Yes, Obama’s aides would at some events take items to a table for Obama to personally sign. I do not dispute that occurred. But I also heard eye-witness accounts from more than one autograph collector and Obama insider that seen an autopen machine being used to affix President-elect Obama’s signature to items. I would not have put the “autopen” point in my story if I did not hear trusted, knowledgeable sources say so themselves.
President-elect Obama was in San Antonio a coule of times before the primaries and I got very cllose to getting his signature on a magazine. The crowd was huge, got about 3 feet from him but he would not look up to sign, he had so much stuff in front of him he kept his head down signing.
how can you tell the autopen from the genuine signature of obama?
An autopen signature can usually be identified from a personal signature by the fact they generally all look exactly alike. So when comparing autopen signatures – they are identical. While actual autographs – no matter how many the person signed – will always have minor, identifiable differences. Professional autograph collectors recognize genuine Obama signatures from the fact they actually witness them being signed. They don’t have to wonder if it’s an autopen because they actually saw Obama personally take the pen to paper.
A few corrections to this story. I have met every living president…Carter will not sign baseballs under any circumstances. Gerald Ford was great through the mail, spending hours a day signing for collectors, but he was tough in person. Reagan was always great. Bush, Sr. is great, but he avoids crowds as best he can. Bill Clinton will sign whatever you want, but he doesn’t like the “pros” – greedy collectors he sees trying to get more than one from him. That’s the only way he will call you out is if you ask him for more than one. Otherwise, he will sign whatever one item you want. W. Bush is really great, like his dad…the difference is he doesn’t mind crowds. Obama is the worst…really bad, rude, and arrogant. I would go so far as to say the guy can be very mean to people.
this articles is very true. i sent george w. bush and john mccain long letters through mail and got an authentic signatures. whereas obama sent me an autopen. i also notice jimmy carter and bill clinton have recently went on some book signing tours.
George HW Bush is a prolific letter-writer and spends hours each day corresponding with his friends. I think that in future years a lot of those letters will come on the market. I’ve met him many times in person and can say that he is quite a gentleman about giving autographs. His signature has changed a lot in recent years and is now hard to authenticate.
I have met George W. Bush in person several times and he is very warm and friendly in person. He loves to sign autographs. He takes things from your hand to sort them out and sign them. I have never met a public figure who is more willing to meet people than George W. Bush. His true personality is obvious in person, but doesn’t show well on television.