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Permalink Reply by Brian M. Wazac on January 31, 2015 at 9:31pm

Not good. Sorry. I got President bush's auto in person in 1996. This is all wrong. hope this help.

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Permalink Reply by Mike White on January 31, 2015 at 10:11pm

Well it might help if you provided more specifics...

I got this directly through his office today, and given his age & health, I'd expect a difference between an autograph signed in the last month and one signed nearly 20 years ago.

Here's a full shot (it goes without saying, but it's a bookplate):

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on February 1, 2015 at 5:43am

there is a huge difference between his signatures of 20 years ago, and now, because of his age and disease.  This signature has positive qualities, just not sure if its hand signed.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 1, 2015 at 8:53am

I have heard reports of his signature deteriorating significantly in the past few years. Given this came from his office, my sense is it is authentic. It is what I would expect from a 90+ year old man with serious health issues. The only other options are pre-print, Autopen or secretary.

If they were inclined to use an Autopen, I highly doubt they would use an Autopen based on an aged and infirm signature. They could just use a previous pattern. And frankly, I think a secretary would do a better job.

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Permalink Reply by Mike White on February 1, 2015 at 10:27am

My thoughts were that his office is no stranger to APing everything that GHWB doesn't touch, so I figured it was authentic based on the MO alone.

It doesn't really make much sense for them or benefit them to suddenly stop using the old AP that they've used for years to go to the effort of mass-producing signed ones with a signature like this on them or to make this the new AP pattern. Just as Jimmy Carter's pre-prints are still signed "Jimmy", there's really no point to changing what you've done for years just to accommodate a signature change.

And why have a sec go through the trouble when, again, they could just stick it under the machine.

All that said, I do have my doubts, as, given his age and other assorted health problems, it's a bit surprising (and beyond flattering), that he'd take the time to sign for me. Though, if we're honest, it's probably more likely that his choosing to sign and my being chosen to receive an authentic signature were 2 separate events.

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