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According to multiple online sources (an DidYouKnowGaming?! forum post here and an AtariAge forum post) Jeffrey R. Yee of San Fransisco set a worldwide record for the high score on Pac-Man by scoring 6,131,940 points.

This is from a DidYouKnowGaming?! forum post from 2012:

The highest score achievable in Pac Man is only 3,333,360 points, due to a game-ending byte-overflow bug in the screen rendering code when level 256 is reached. This causes a "split-screen" effect, rendering the game unwinnable. Even President Ronald Reagan was fooled by this lie; he sent Jeffrey a letter of congratulations.

This is from an AtariAge forum post from 2010:

…Jeffrey R. Yee claimed to get a high score of 6,131,940 points in 1982 I think on Pac Man. The story goes that Reagan even sent him something to make it official. It would seem that if a president sent something to someone like this it could be tracked down and proved. Oh, and he was 8 years old at the time as well.

Okay, there is clearly some controversy as those above cited sources imply as to whether this high score was truly achievable. But my question is not about the high score as much as the claim that then President Ronald Reagan sent Jeffrey Yee a letter of congratulations. All references online seem to be hinged on the high-score debacle and don’t provide primary sources for the Presidential record claim.

Did Ronald Reagan actually send Jeffrey Yee a letter of congratulations?

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There are two 1983 references that say he got a letter from Reagan

The 18 May 1983 article SF's Pac-Man Whiz Jeffrey Yee Scores Big East West: The Chinese-American News Magazine, page 11, says:

Yee received a congratulatory letter from Ronald Reagan. "You're really incredible, Jeffrey," the president said. "You're only eight years old."

And the article Pac-Man Champ by Kris Young in Jade says:

Earlier in the year Jeffrey received a personally signed letter from the President congratulating him on his world record. He said, "You're really incredible, Jeffrey, You're only eight years-old." Jeffrey proudly displays the letter in a frame at home, but comments that he is a bit upset about the President. "He takes all my taxes."

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  • Good enough for me! Jun 17, 2018 at 16:56
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    Also remarkable ... an 8-year-old who is upset about taxes ...
    – GEdgar
    Jun 18, 2018 at 13:41

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