The calligrapher’s office plays a key role in White House diplomacy. The East Wing, which oversees the calligrapher’s office, declined to comment on the role of the chief calligrapher or why a top secret clearance is necessary.

But former chief calligrapher Rick Paulus, who served in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and had a top secret clearance himself, attributed the need for it due to the knowledge of the President’s schedule, as well as the calligrapher’s proximity to world leaders. When he was a White House calligrapher, Paulus told CNN, he “never, ever dealt with intelligence matters.”