[1] After teaching in New Jersey, he worked for several years as a tutor in the Virginia home of John Taliaferro, his father's congressional colleague.

[1] While living in Virginia, Southard studied law with Francis T. Brooke and Judge Williams, both of Fredericksburg.

Responding to actions by influential officers, including David Porter, he reinforced the American tradition of civilian control over the military establishment.

Also on Southard's watch, the Navy grew by some 50% in personnel and expenditures and expanded its reach into waters that had not previously seen an American man-of-war.

During the next decade, he was a leader of the Whig Party and attained national prominence as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs.

During the 1820s, Southard was a member of the prestigious society, Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.