John Hancock served as president of the Continental Congress when he signed the Declaration of Independence.
Hancock was president of the Second Continental Congress in 1776. In that role, he signed the engrossed parchment copy of the Declaration, placing his large, prominent signature near the center beneath the text.
Thomas Jefferson drafted the main body of the document, but he was not the congressional presiding officer. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams served on the drafting committee and helped shape the final wording. George Washington was commanding the Continental Army and was not a signer.
Hancock’s name became famous for its unusually large script. In modern English, “John Hancock” is sometimes used as a synonym for a signature, a reference to the visual prominence of his name on the Declaration.