John Hancock’s signature appears largest and most prominently on the Declaration of Independence.
Hancock was president of the Second Continental Congress when the document was adopted. His name is written prominently in the center beneath the text, unlike the other signatures, which are arranged in columns by state.
The large signature helped create the enduring expression that someone’s “John Hancock” means a signature. Popular tradition often attributes a bold remark about the British king being able to read it without spectacles to Hancock, but the wording and historical setting of that story are uncertain.
Hancock was a wealthy Massachusetts merchant and an important supporter of the revolutionary cause. He later served as president of the Continental Congress and as governor of Massachusetts. He was not the principal drafter of the Declaration; that role belonged to Thomas Jefferson.