President Ulysses Grant then appointed his ally Bingham as United States Minister to Japan, which involved a salary increase but also economic responsibilities with respect to the small legation. (The Legation was upgraded to Embassy and the title of Minister upgraded to Ambassador in the early 20th century)Initially, Bingham tried to switch appointments with John Watson Foster of Indiana, whom Grant had appointed minister to Mexico, but Foster declined. Bingham thus sailed with his wife and two of his three daughters to Japan. Bingham ultimately served longer than any other US Chief of Mission to that nation, for more than twelve years and under four Republican presidents, from May 31, 1873 to July 2, 1885, when his successor, appointed by newly-elected Democratic President Grover Cleveland, arrived. (The next-longest serving American ambassador to Japan would prove to be former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Michael Joseph Mansfield, who served for ten years a century later).