PenchantMany people have asked this question; President Barack Obama used a whopping 22 pens to sign the health-care bill into law on Tuesday, March 23, 2010. Why so many pens?It is a long-held tradition for US presidents to use many pens - simply because they become historic artifacts. Some are engraved by the White House and given out as gifts to those who helped pass the law. It is rumored that president Johnson used 75 pens to sign the Civil Rights Act in 1964.Other comments by our users:The pens are then presented to the sponsors of the bill and other interested parties. All can be said to be the pen he signed the bill into law with.