Selling President GW. Bush Jr Autographs

Only 24 eBay Signed Items - Low Bids for Ex

A State Department program signed by President Bush at the Waldorf Towers where he was meeting with Colin Powell and Pakistani President Musharraf in November 2001, is for sale on ebay with only 24 other signed items.

The autograph could be analyzed for state of mind: lower-case "t" in Bush's "to," his capital "B"s with no backs; the odd and busy "G" in his George. The owner, a waiter in the kitchen at the Waldorf, considered having the program framed, but in hindsight it reminded him of a souvenir from a crime scene so he logged onto eBay to rid himself of memories of "this disastrous president and to make some money off him after all he has cost us."

On eBay,there were only two-dozen items with George Jr.'s signature on them for sale (there were more items signed by his father).

• One was an autographed, color photograph of the president with Boston Red Sox pitching ace Curt Schilling, taken during the team's visit to the White House after winning the 2004 World Series. Schilling is dressed in a power suit, complete with an American flag pin in his lapel. The seller wanted $298 for Schilling with Bush, who is almost grimacing in the photo as he holds up his honorary No. 43 jersey. There were no bids.
• Another seller was asking $2,499 for a laminated bookmark from Bethany Elementary School in Beaverton, Oregon, which Bush had apparently autographed on a campaign stop in September 2000. It came out of the unprecedented 2000 race.
• A golf ball for $3,499. In a description of the item, the seller had written, "...but history's verdict on his presidency will be greatly affected by how well he pitches out of the Iraq sand trap."
• A color picture of the Presidents' gelding harnessed in his flight suit during the Mission Accomplished skit for $4,999.
• A white New York City DOT helmet used during the clean up of Ground Zero and signed also by Clinton, Giuliani, Pataki, and Bloomberg for $34,999!

Howard Zerwitz is owner of the American Historical Guild, purveyor of a wide collection of presidential autographs. Mr. Zerwitz said the autograph's worth didn't directly reflect his accomplishments or historical reputation or approval ratings.

"The things that determine price is supply and demand," Zerwitz said, as true for John Hancocks as it is for houses or oil. He'd sold many things with George W's signature; they were commonplace. Still, Bush's autograph is apparently worth twice as much as Jimmy Carter's, which doesn't seem fair. "It's easier to get Carter's signature," Zerwitz explained. For one, he signs a lot of copies of his own books.

George Washington's autograph is the most valuable; Lincoln's the most in demand. Zerwitz's website featured a signed letter from Honest Abe, dated 1864, going for an impressive $21,500.

Zerwitz offered $150. "Unless he wrote something of interest there, like 'Let's get Osama,' it's just a signature," he said. The value of it wasn't going to fluctuate much in the short term either, but then Zerwitz thought twice: "If the war in Iraq was over and there was dancing in the street, well, it might go up then."

The autograph's personalized message might be hurting its appeal ("To Cullen, Best Wishes.") so to get around that the waiter thought to sell it to a namesake. Fergis Cullen, the Republican state party chairman of New Hampshire, said that he already had "the good fortune" of owning two autographs of President Bush.

The first time he met the man was in the early 1990s at Arlington Stadium during a Texas Rangers game. Bush was then co-owner of the team. "I asked him if he was running for governor," Cullen recalled, "and he said, 'I'm thinkin' about it.'"

The autograph eventually sold to Rick Schnake of History In Ink in Springfield, Missouri, for $200, about half of what he was going to try to get for it on resale. Schnake, a lawyer, said it was more like a letter written by Harry Truman thanking someone for a personal deed than a signed Truman document discussing the dropping of the atomic bomb.

"Besides," he said with a laugh, "Presidents are never popular while they're in office in their second term." The night the waiter met Bush, he mentioned a quote from Churchill to the President that seemed apropos of the moment, "The nation had the lion's heart. I had the luck to give the roar."

Bush chuckled and while signing another program replied, "But remember, after the war, he lost his bid for reelection." Then he quickly caught himself. "Time for politics later, though. We've got a war to win."