Sept. 12 newspaper page signed by 5 presidents nets $11,000
NEW YORK — A front page of The New York Times from Sept. 12, 2001, showing the burning World Trade Center and autographed by five U.S. presidents sold for $11,000 on Wednesday at an auction of presidential papers.
The page was signed by Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush when they were attending a national day of remembrance and prayer event for Sept. 11 victims at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., days after the attacks. Its headline above a photograph of the burning twin towers says: “U.S. Attacked: Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit Pentagon in Day of Terror.”
The front page’s presale estimate was $6,000 to $8,000. The auction house will donate all of its commission from the proceeds of the sale of the page to the Sept. 11 charity Tuesday’s Children.
The auction by Lion Heart Autographs also featured John F. Kennedy’s scribbled notes for a 1960 campaign speech and a fragment of George Washington’s draft of his first inaugural address.