[1] Born in Lamar, Colorado, Grisham graduated from Jordan High School in Long Beach, California in 1940.

He was a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces stationed in the European theater of World War II from 1942 to 1946.

A Republican, Grisham was elected to the United States House of Representative in 1978, succeeding retiring incumbent Del Clawson.

He was narrowly defeated for reelection to the state Assembly in 1988 by Democrat Bob Epple, then a member of the Cerritos College Board of Trustees.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress