Francis Granger was born in Suffield, Connecticut, on December 1, 1792, and attended Yale College from 1811 to 1814. Upon graduation, he moved to New York and became a member of the New York bar; he later served in the New York state assembly (1826-1828, and 1830-1832). Granger served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1835-1837, and 1839-1841). In between, he failed to win electoral victory in 1936 as vice presidential candidate to presidential hopeful William Henry Harrison. Following Harrison's election as President in 1940, Granger entered the cabinet as postmaster general and served in that capacity until his resignation in September 1841. He returned to Congress for one term (1841-1843) and died in Canandaigua, New York, on August 31, 1868.