President Andrew Johnson Appoints Ulysses S. Grant’s Brother-in-law as U.S. Consul to Leipzig, Germany

With the mandate of the 1866 election, Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act, setting up five military districts in the South, each under the direction of a presidentially-appointed military commander. Congress also passed the Tenure of Office Act, prohibiting Johnson from removing cabinet officers without the Senate's consent. In this final piece of legislation, Congress hoped to protect Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the sole Radical Republican in Johnson's cabinet. At that time, Ulysses S. Grant was General of the Army of the United States and the nation's chief military man. In the dispute between the President and the Radical Republicans in Congress, Grant had remained neutral. Should Grant drop his neutrality and side with the Radicals, it would be devastating to Johnson, and the President sought to encourage it. Perhaps the following appointment was part of that program.

Michael J. Cramer earned his way through college by teaching German and Latin and working part time as a printer. He studied for the ministry and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1860. Cramer joined the Methodist conference and preached for four years. In July  1864 President Lincoln appointed him Hospital Chaplain, in which post he ministered to sick, wounded and dying soldiers  Cramer stayed in the service until 1867, when President Andrew Johnson named him U.S. Consul at Leipzig, Germany. In addition to his official duties there, he organized a chapel service and preached every Sunday.

Document Signed as President, on vellum, Washington, March 2, 1867, the very day Congress passed the Tenure of Office and Reconstruction Acts, appointing Cramer U.S. Consul at Leipsic (Leipzig), Saxony. It is countersigned by Secretary of State William Seward. Most Johnson military appointments are signed with a stamp, so this authentic one is somewhat unusual.

This appointment started Cramer on a lengthy and successful diplomatic career. After his brother-in-law Grant became President, Cramer was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, and he resided in Copenhagen for eleven years in this capacity.  In 1881 President James Garfield appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland, and this post was later confirmed by Chester A. Arthur when he became President after Garfield's assassination. Cramer returned to America in 1885, the day after the death of Grant.