History In Ink® Historical Autographs |
2435202 Barack Obama Scroll down to see images of the items below the description Extra fine check, a campaign contribution to a fellow Democrat, with a full “Barack” signature from Obama Barack Hussein Obama II, 1961–. 44th President of the United States. Business-size 3” x 8¼” check, signed Barack Obama. This is an scarce bank check drawn on the account of the Friends of Barack Obama during the time that Obama served as an Illinois State Senator. It represents a $500.00 contribution to the campaign of Democrat David Phelps (1947–), a conservative “Blue Dog” Democrat who had represented Illinois’s 19th Congressional District after first being elected in 1998. The Blue Dog Coalition is a caucus of moderate Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives comprising Democrats who are both fiscally and socially conservative. In Congress, Phelps was strongly anti-abortion and pro-gun, and he co-sponsored the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would have legally defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman and would have prevented judicial extension of marriage rights to same-gender couples. Although people make campaign contributions for a variety of reasons that are not always apparent, on the surface Phelps would have seemed to be an unlikely choice for a contribution from the liberal Obama. Yet Obama undoubtedly thought that it would be better to have Phelps in Congress than his Republican opponent. Phelps lost his bid for reelection in 2002. As a result of the 2000 census, his district was split among three neighboring districts in 2002, when population shifts caused Illinois to lose one of its congressional districts. Most of Phelps’s 19th District was combined with the neighboring 20th District, a more conservative district represented by incumbent Republican Congressman John Shimkus, to form a new and more conservative 19th District. Phelps retained only 35% of his former territory, and Shimkus defeated him by more than 20,000 votes. This is a beautiful check that is virtually pristine. It has no endorsement and no bank markings, so it was never cashed, and it has no fading and has not been folded. It is as nice an example as one can find. Obama has signed it with a full signature, spelling out Barack rather than writing the truncated letter B that he later used, and still uses, for virtually all of his signatures. There is a stray black ink mark in the blank area above Phelps’s name in the payee line that is likely from Obama’s pen. Overall, the check is in extra fine condition. Unframed. Please ask us about custom framing this piece.
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$3,650.00 | |
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Registered Dealer # RD281 |