Walter Chandler was born in Memphis in 1887 to parents of Scots / English descent.  He attended public schools before going on to earn his law degree at the University of Tennessee.  During Chandler's career he taught school, reported for the Knoxville Sentinel, wrote and practiced law.  A Mason and an Episcopalian, Chandler was an officer in World War I and later a Congressman from the 9th district.  After five years in the congress Chandler was elected mayor of Memphis twice, once in 1940 and once in 1955.

Although supported by the Crump machine Chandler made significant contributions to the world on his own.  He was the author of Chapter 13 bankruptcy legislation and filed the original suit in Baker v. Carr, the Supreme Court case that argued against Tennessee's status quo of seldom changing the boundaries of congressional districts although population growth in urban areas far outstripped the growth in rural areas.  In some cases one congressional district would be more populous by a factor of ten than another, rural district.  Tennessee had not revised boundaries in sixty years.  The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Carr, viewing the case not as one of legislative jurisdiction, but as a case of insuring each individual's right to equal representation. 

A sensitive and thoughtful man, it was thought by some that he retired from politics in disappointment after E. H. Crump failed to support him for a senate seat.  Chandler was an active and contributing member of the West Tennessee Historical Society.  His recollections of early life in Memphis provide one of the clearest and most lucid picture of Memphis at the turn of the century.

Walter Chandler died in 1967 the same year his son, future mayor Wyeth Chandler was elected to the first Memphis City Council.