John Hancock was president of the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.
Hancock presided over Congress during the adoption of the Declaration on July 4. His position made him the presiding officer of the revolutionary legislature, not the nation’s first president in the later constitutional sense. The United States did not yet have the presidency created by the Constitution.
Hancock’s large signature became one of the most recognizable features associated with the Declaration. The expression “put your John Hancock here” later became an informal American way to ask someone for a signature.
Popular stories claim Hancock signed his name large so that King George III could read it without spectacles, but that explanation is a later legend. The famous parchment copy was signed primarily on August 2, 1776, after Congress adopted the text. Hancock’s role as congressional president and his prominent signature are separate facts often blended together.