Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest

Abstract

In 1940 Joseph Howard Parks published the biography Felix Grundy, Champion of Democracy. His purpose was to rescue his subject from obscurity, but the resulting portrait was not altogether flattering. Felix Grundy was a decent enough man, with a keen sense of humor and a considerable appetite for the game of politics. He had some impact on developments at critical points in the nation's history, most notably on the War of 1812, the politics of debt relief during the Panic of 1819, the Nullification Crisis, and the bank war of the 1830s. He also had a career as a judge and attorney. Although Grundy was a committed Democrat, Parks was unable to find any unifying themes or principles in his career. He had initially supported the creation of the national bank, which he later helped destroy, and he was sympathetic to theories of nullification before he assisted Andrew Jackson in thwarting the schemes of John C. Calhoun. In short, Grundy seemed to be a wholly political animal and little could be discovered about his family and private life.