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Which patent was issued to a U.S. president?

On May 22, 1849, 12 years before he became the sixteenth U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was granted U.S. patent number 6,469. The patent was for a device to help steamboats pass over shallow areas and sandbars. It was the only patent ever held by a U.S. president.

Lincoln's device, never tested or manufactured, had a set of adjustable flotation chambers made from metal and waterproof cloth. These chambers were to be attached to the ship's sides, below the waterline.

Source: Inventive Genius, p. 23.

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