When did US presidents first use the autopen to sign documents and which president started it?
Executive summary
Autopen-style signature machines have a long lineage dating to Thomas Jefferson’s use of a polygraph in the early 19th century, and modern autopens were used by multiple 20th- and 21st-century presidents — with Lyndon B. Johnson publicly photographed with one and Barack Obama documented as the first president to use an autopen to sign law while abroad in 2011 (Jefferson: early polygraph; LBJ: publicized use; Obama: first to sign law remotely) [1] [2]. Recent political fights over Joe Biden’s autopen use reflect this longer history: critics assert improper delegation, while White House and legal commentators note prior presidents — including Donald Trump himself — have used the device [3] [4] [1].
1. A 19th‑century origin: Jefferson’s “polygraph” set the precedent
The earliest presidential ancestor of today’s autopen was the polygraph machine John Isaac Hawkins patented in 1803; Thomas Jefferson purchased and used such devices while president, creating mechanically duplicated writing as an accepted presidential convenience [1]. Sources emphasize Jefferson’s polygraph is a distant predecessor rather than the same technology as modern autopens, but it establishes a long precedent for mechanical duplication of presidential signatures [1].
2. Mid‑20th century: secrecy, rumor and LBJ’s curtain‑raiser
The autopen as we recognize it entered public view in the 20th century. Lyndon B. Johnson permitted photographs of the device in the White House and thereby “blew the doors off” the conversation about presidents delegating signatures; Gerald Ford was openly candid about using the autopen, and Harry Truman was rumored to use it [2]. Those episodes normalized the device’s existence in presidential operations and made its use a known administrative tool [2].
3. Modern use on deadline: Obama and the first documented law‑signing by autopen
The Shapell Manuscript Foundation and other reporting single out Barack Obama as the first president documented to use an autopen to sign legislation while physically abroad — signing a Patriot Act extension in May 2011 from the G8 summit and later appropriations and budget‑deadline bills from overseas locations in 2011 and 2013 [2]. That usage set a modern precedent: autopens can be used to meet statutory deadlines when the president is out of the country [2].
4. Legal and practical framing: long‑standing administrative acceptability
Government reporting and DOJ responses have treated autopen use as compatible with constitutional and statutory processes; a Department of Justice reply in 2005 found presidential autopen use consistent with Article I, Section 7 practices, and the device has been used for routine approvals and correspondence [1]. Journalists and historians note autopen signatures are produced with ink and intended to be legally effective, though provenance matters for collectibles [1].
5. Politics now: autopen as a flashpoint, not a new invention
Contemporary disputes — including claims by former President Trump that actions signed by President Biden via autopen are invalid — rest on political and legal arguments about authorization and documentation rather than on novelty of the device [3] [4] [5]. Multiple outlets note that presidents of both parties have used autopens and that Trump has used one in the past; legal scholars cited in reporting reject the idea that autopen use alone voids executive actions [3] [6]. Congressional inquiries and partisan reports frame the issue differently, with Republican Oversight materials alleging irregularities in a specific administration [7].
6. What sources do — and do not — say about “who started it”
Available sources identify Thomas Jefferson as the first president to employ a signature‑duplicating machine (the polygraph) and credit mid‑20th‑century presidents like LBJ and Gerald Ford with normalizing autopen use; Barack Obama is identified as the first president documented to sign a law with a modern autopen while abroad [1] [2]. Sources do not present a single modern “starter” president who invented autopen use; rather, the practice evolved and was adopted over time [1] [2].
7. Bottom line for readers: long history, contested present
The autopen is not new to the presidency: its roots reach Jefferson, it became public in the Johnson/Ford era, and Barack Obama used it to sign statutory measures while abroad — a practice consistent with earlier DOJ guidance that autopen use can be lawful [1] [2]. Current political claims that autopen use alone invalidates presidential actions are contested in reporting and legal commentary; partisan investigations amplify the dispute, but they do not negate the device’s decades‑long administrative pedigree [4] [5].
Limitations: reporting here relies on the provided sources; available sources do not mention every legal opinion or court ruling on autopen validity beyond the cited DOJ response and contemporary news analysis [1] [4].