George M. Grant

Who was George M. Grant?

George McInvale Grant was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Alabama.

Grant was born in Louisville, Alabama. He obtained a law degree from University of Alabama in 1922. He was admitted to the bar the same year and opened a law practice in Troy, Alabama, near Montgomery. He served as a private and aviation cadet in the aviation section of the Signal Corps of the United States Army in 1918 and 1919. He was county solicitor of Pike County, Alabama from 1927 to 1937.

When 2nd District Congressman Lister Hill was appointed to the United States Senate in 1938, Grant won the Democratic nomination to succeed him in the special election. In those days, Democratic nomination was tantamount to victory in Alabama, and he took office on June 14. He won a full term that November and was reelected 11 more times from the Montgomery-based district.

In 1957, he voted against the Civil Rights Act. In 1964, Grant faced his first credible opponent in the Democratic primary when former rear admiral John G. Crommelin challenged him. Crommelin ran well to Grant's right, giving speeches full of racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric.