Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest

24. Attorney General

24 Attorney General Mr. Grundy . . . has done himself great credit by the manner in which he has discharged his official duties.    —Martin Van Buren elix Grundy became the fourteenth attorney general of the United States on September 1, 1838. He served in that office for fifteen months before reluctantly yielding to entreaties of Tennessee Governor James K. Polk to return to the U.S. Senate. Van Buren’s choice of Grundy as attorney general followed the president’s acceptance of the resignation of Benjamin F. Butler on April 11, 1838. The capable Butler, a former law student and partner of Van Buren’s, had been attorney general since 1834 and had agreed to stay on during Van Buren’s presidency largely to help deal with the Panic of 1837. Van Buren first asked Judge Richard Parker, of Richmond, Virginia, to replace Butler, but Parker declined the appointment on May 2, 1838. Van Buren then turned to Grundy. Grundy’s appointment and confirmation by the Senate were announced officially on July 6 in the Washington Globe, and Secretary of State John Forsyth transmitted the commission to Grundy on July 9. Tennessee papers reacted predictably: on July 16 the Nashville Union applauded the appointment, while the Nashville Whig expressed disapproval indirectly by printing a critical editorial from the Cincinnati Whig. Butler expressed the Democratic view, writing Van Buren that Grundy’s appointment “would do well with the old Democracy” and would be a “brilliant finale” to the session.1 Amos Kendall attributed Grundy’s appointment to the political consequences of Jackson’s battle against the Second Bank of the United States. That assessment obscures the benefits to Van Buren of an offer to Grundy. Grundy had led the fight against the Whigs in Tennessee and was close to Jackson. A resident of a slaveholding border state and a westerner, Grundy maintained sectional balance in a party that was always seeking to minimize tension between F 242 Attorney General � 243 its northern and southern wings. He had long-standing ties to Calhoun, whose decision to work with the Democrats significantly enhanced the political possibilities for Van Buren. Renowned as a criminal lawyer, Grundy had been the chief justice of Kentucky. Perhaps most important, he was a shrewd politician of deep experience.2 Grundy’s tenure began on September 1, 1838, the day Butler’s resignation became effective. He arrived in Washington in late August, without Nancy Grundy, whose poor health kept her in Nashville. He almost certainly lodged at Mrs. Owner’s boardinghouse, on Pennsylvania Avenue, where, along with his good friend John M. Robinson, a senator from Illinois, he took quarters during the congressional sessions both preceding and following his tenure as attorney general.3 The post of attorney general, considered the second most demanding job in the cabinet, behind that of secretary of the treasury, involved significant responsibility but little legislative support. Unlike the secretaryships of foreign affairs, the treasury, and war, the post of attorney general was not one of the original cabinet posts but was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. Only in 1886 did Congress establish its status as fourth in cabinet rank. In contrast to today, the attorney general in 1838 had no authority over the U.S. district attorneys , who represented the United States in the district and circuit courts. Congress was slow in providing financial support for the attorney general. When John Breckinridge served as attorney general under Jefferson, he received a salary of $3,000 but had to pay for his office space, clerks, office supplies, and other office costs out of his own pocket. By the time Grundy took office, Congress provided the attorney general an annual salary of $4,000 and authorization to hire a clerk and messenger, at salaries of $800 and $500 per year, respectively, as well as an allowance of $500 for books, $733 for furniture, and $500 for contingencies . In 1822 the attorney general received his first official quarters, a single room on the second floor of the War Department building. Grundy assumed his new responsibilities in that office, but in 1839 he moved into rooms located on the second floor of the Treasury building, taking with him his clerk and messenger, as well as his law library.4 From these quarters, Grundy carried out his major responsibilities of presenting the government’s cases in the Supreme Court and issuing opinions to the executive branch, as well as serving as a policy adviser to the president. The...