Background
He was born on August 1807 at Mont-sous-Vaudrey in the Jura Mountains, France.
He was born on August 1807 at Mont-sous-Vaudrey in the Jura Mountains, France.
He studied at the College de l'Arc and at the Collège de Poligny (now named after him), became a law student at the University of Paris.
Grevy first entered politics as a deputy from Jura to the Constituent Assembly in 1848.
As a member of the Legislative Assembly in 1849, he protested the coup d'étatd'etat of December 2, 1851, by which Louis Napoleon Bonaparte seized control of the state. Throughout the Second Empire, Grevy practiced law but in 1871 he reentered politics as a member of the National Assembly, of which he served as president from 1876 to 1879.
He remained a deputy after the establishment of the new constitution, and was one of the leaders of the opposition to President MacMahon in the crisis of May 16, 1877. When MacMahon resigned two years later, Grevy succeeded him as president of the Republic and was reelected in 1885. He took an active part in foreign affairs, but had ceased to be more than a symbol in internal politics, his election and re-election being due equally to his reputation as a republican of 1848 and to the fact that the political leaders could not agree on a more vigorous candidate.
In 1887 it became known that Grevy's son-in-law, Daniel Wilson, was involved in wholesale traffic of the Legion of Honor. Although all evidence suggested that Grevy was innocent of any complicity, it was equally clear that Wilson had been able to ply his trade only because of his family connection. As a result Grevy was persuaded to resign in 1887, after which he lived in retirement until his death.