The Original Appointment of Simon Wolf, the Foremost American Jewish Activist of the 19th Century, to the Ambassadorship of Egypt

On presenting his credentials pursuant to this very document, Wolf wrote, “There was one dominant feeling prevailing and that was the thought of my dear mother and struggles we had in the land of my birth and I was overwhelmed to think that now I was the accredited representative of the Great Republic of the West to the land of my forefathers, typifying in the highest degree the possibilities and opportunities of our country.”

Simon Wolf was an eloquent orator and the most influential leader of the Jewish community in the 19th century. He formed close relationships with every U.S. president from James Buchanan to Woodrow Wilson, and left a moving account of his meeting with Abraham Lincoln in the Oval Office. President Grant named him Recorder of Deeds for Washington, DC, making him one of the first Jews to hold public office there. He also served as president of Washington’s Hebrew Congregation in the 1870s and was active in B’nai B’rith (of which he would later be president). In July 1881, President Garfield appointed him Consul General (Ambassador) to the autonomous state of Egypt. However, Garfield commissioned Wolf during a recess of the Senate, so Wolf needed to be recommissioned after the Senate officially confirmed him, which it did unanimously on October 29. Garfield was assassinated in September, so the recommissioning had to be accomplished by President Arthur. As Wolf wrote, “On Friday, July 1, 1881, I was summoned to the White House to receive my temporary commission, the permanent one being sent to me after President Arthur had renominated me, the Senate promptly confirming the renomination.”

In 1895, in response to slurs that Jews had evaded military service during the Civil War, Wolf published a comprehensive review of Jewish service in the American military. His book, “The American Jew as Patriot, Citizen and Soldier”, listed more than 8,000 Jewish soldiers who fought in the Civil War, as well as Jews who had served the American cause as far back as the Revolutionary War. Wolf stated, “My primary purpose has been to prove that the Jewish people …have been unfailing in their devotion to their country’s cause”, and he concluded that “the enlistment of Jewish soldiers, north and south, reached proportions considerably in excess of their ratio to the general population.” Wolf did more than any other single person to illustrate the role that Jews have played in America since the beginning. Wolf also wrote a book entitled “Presidents I Have Known 1860-1918”, and gave many lectures on Jewish-American history.

Wolf describes how he got his temporary appointment. “I found the President in the Cabinet Room sitting at the writing table and across from him sat his Secretary of State James G Blaine. The President said ‘I am just signing your commission.’ I hope you will have a pleasant trip and find the land of your forefathers all that you expect. Try to pluck the mystery out of the Heart of Egypt and come back to the United States, if such a thing is possible, a better citizen than when you left. That was the last time I saw the President, for long before I returned he had solved all the mysteries of life. The next day Saturday July 2d while seated in my office about to start to go to the Temple for divine service prior to my leaving for Egypt a gentleman rushed in and said that the President had just been shot at the Sixth Street station.”

On presenting his credentials, Wolf describes his arrival as Ambassador to Egypt in this book. “The reception of an accredited Consul General to is an imposing affair. I was sent for with a coach, white Arab horses and the Chamberlain the Khedive. As we passed through the streets lined with soldiers presenting arms and as we reached the of the Palace where a band of music played the Spangled Banner I confess I was so moved that it was with the greatest difficulty I could refrain tears. There was one dominant feeling prevailing and that was the thought of my dear mother and struggles we had in the land of my birth and I was overwhelmed to think that now I was the accredited representative of the Great Republic of the West to the land of my forefathers, typifying in the highest degree the possibilities and opportunities of our country and that as Secretary John Hay, on a memorable occasion of which I speak in another chapter said ‘The God of Israel never sleeps or slumbers.’”

After Garfield’s death, one of Arthur’s first acts was to renominate Wolf for a permanent position.

Document signed, Washington, October 29, 1881, the day the Senate confirmed Wolf’s appointment, naming “Simon Wolf of the District of Columbia” to be “Agent and Counsel General of the United States of American at Cairo…to His Highness the Pasha of Egypt…”

A note on Presidential appointments of Jewish figures

Over the first century under the U.S. Constitution, many presidents maintained cordial relationships with the Jewish community, and some gave minor appointments to Jews. Jefferson named Reuben Etting a U.S. marshal, and some Jews were made U.S. attorneys. These appointments includes minor consular positions. Lincoln appointed Max Einstein a consul at Nuremberg, and Grant made David Eckstein a consul at Victoria, British Columbia, and Nathan Newitter a consul at Osaka, Japan. He appointed Gen. Edward Salomon governor of Washington Territory. And of course, presidents made military appointments based on military recommendation without regard to the religion of the appointee. Lincoln, for example, named seven Jewish generals in the Civil War.

But Jews were not generally named to senior positions. The first Jewish cabinet member was Oscar Straus in 1906, and the first Jewish Supreme Court justice was Louis D. Brandeis in 1916. President Madison is an exception, appointing Mordecai Noah to a senior consulate position in Tunis, but Noah was recalled by Secretary of State James Monroe without much delay because of his religion. Grant asked Joseph Seligman to join his cabinet as Treasury Secretary, but Seligman declined. He also appointed Benjamin Peixotto U.S. consul general to the United Principality of Romania, but this was before Romania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878.

A search of public sale record going back almost half a century fails to find that any of these reached that market. This highlights the extraordinary rarity and importance of this document, which may well be the earliest surviving appointment of a practicing Jew by an American president.