James A. Garfield Document Signed as President

Partly-printed DS as president, one page, 17 x 14, February 16, 1881. President Garfield appoints Charles A. Spencer as "Postmaster at Sheboygan Falls…State of Wisconsin." Signed neatly at the conclusion by James A. Garfield, and countersigned by Postmaster General Thomas L. James. Lower left retains the original gold foil seal with red ribbons. In fine condition, with a slight tear to foil seal. Given his brief time in office, presidential documents issued by Garfield are quite rare, with this particular example all the more unusual in that it was ostensibly filled out in advance, some 16 days before Garfield assumed the presidency. As this commission was essentially waiting for the president, it's not unfair to suppose that this may have been one of the first documents Garfield signed in the White House.