President Obama officially announced his nomination of Jack Lew as the next Secretary of the Treasury at the White House this afternoon, and the formal conference was punctuated with jokes about Lew's scribbly signature--which will appear on all of the bills the Treasury will print over the next four years.
After the president and exiting secretary Timothy Geithner spoke, Jack Lew took to the podium. He said some kind remarks about Geithner before saying, "You know, I thought I know you pretty well but it was only yesterday I discovered that we both share a common challenge with penmanship."
The room of journalists laughed, then he put his serious face back on and gave a general speech about the next four years and thanked his family.
Then, Obama concluded the brief conference with, "The only point I want to leave you with...is I never noticed Jack's signature, and when this was highlighted yesterday in the press, I considered rescinding him, my offer to appoint him. Jack assures me he is going to work to make at least one letter legible in order not to deface our currency should he be confirmed as secretary of the treasury."
The journalists laughed again and gave a round of applause as the trio exited the East Room.
[Dollar graphic via NY Mag]
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