Edmund Randolph

Edmund Randolph
Born	Edmund Jennings Randolph 10 8, 1753
Birthplace	Williamsburg, Virginia, British America
Died	Template:Death date and age Millwood, Virginia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Attorney, politician, statesman
Known for	First United States Attorney General; Second United States Secretary of State; Seventh Governor of Virginia; delegate to the Constitutional Convention
Education	College of William & Mary
Children	Peyton Randolph

Edmund Jennings Randolph (August 10, 1753 – September 12, 1813) was an American Founding Father, attorney, and statesman who held a succession of positions at the center of the early American republic. Born into one of Virginia's most prominent political families, Randolph served as the first Attorney General of Virginia, a delegate to the Continental Congress, the seventh Governor of Virginia, and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he introduced the Virginia Plan that became the basis for the structure of the new federal government. Appointed by President George Washington as the first United States Attorney General, he later succeeded Thomas Jefferson as the second United States Secretary of State. His career, which spanned the Revolutionary War era through the formative years of the federal government, placed him at the intersection of many of the young nation's defining political debates. Randolph's tenure as Secretary of State ended under a cloud of controversy involving allegations—never proven—of improper dealings with France, and he spent his later years practicing law and seeking to restore his reputation. He died on September 12, 1813, at Millwood, Virginia.

Early Life

Edmund Jennings Randolph was born on August 10, 1753, in Williamsburg, Virginia, the capital of the Colony of Virginia. He was a member of the Randolph family, one of the most influential political dynasties in colonial Virginia. His father was John Randolph, who served as the King's Attorney (Attorney General) for the colony of Virginia. His uncle was Peyton Randolph, who served as the first and third President of the Continental Congress, making the Randolph family central figures in both colonial governance and the emerging independence movement.

The Randolph family had deep roots in Virginia's legal and political establishment. Edmund grew up in Williamsburg amid the intellectual and political ferment that characterized the colony in the years preceding the American Revolution. The family's prominence provided the young Edmund with access to influential figures and an education suited to his social standing.

The coming of the American Revolution created a profound rift within the Randolph family. When hostilities between the American colonies and Great Britain intensified, Edmund's father John Randolph remained loyal to the British Crown. In 1775, John Randolph departed Virginia for England as a Loyalist, choosing allegiance to the king over the revolutionary cause. Edmund, however, broke with his father and chose to support American independence. This decision represented a significant personal sacrifice and a dramatic family rupture, as the young Randolph aligned himself with the patriot movement against the wishes and example of his own father.

Shortly after his father's departure, Edmund Randolph joined the Continental Army as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington in 1775. This early service alongside Washington established a personal and professional relationship that would shape much of Randolph's subsequent career, as Washington would later appoint him to two of the most important positions in the new federal government.

Education

Edmund Randolph attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he studied law. William & Mary was one of the foremost institutions of higher learning in the American colonies, and its location in the colonial capital of Williamsburg placed students at the center of Virginia's political life. The college had produced many of Virginia's leading attorneys and public figures, and Randolph's education there prepared him for the legal career that would serve as the foundation for his political rise. Following his studies, he pursued admission to the bar and began the practice of law in Virginia, embarking on what would become one of the most consequential legal and political careers of the founding era.

Career

Early Legal and Political Career

After serving briefly as an aide-de-camp to George Washington at the outset of the Revolutionary War, Randolph returned to Virginia and embarked on his legal career. On July 4, 1776—the same day the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence—Randolph was appointed the first Attorney General of Virginia, a position he would hold for a decade, from 1776 to 1786. In this role, Randolph was responsible for the legal affairs of the newly independent Commonwealth of Virginia, serving during the critical years of the Revolutionary War and its immediate aftermath. He succeeded, in effect, the position his loyalist father had held under the colonial government, though the office was now constituted under the authority of the new state.

During this period, Randolph also served as a delegate from Virginia to the Continental Congress, serving from 1779 to 1782. His service in the Continental Congress gave him firsthand experience with the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and the challenges of governing a loose confederation of states—experiences that would inform his later advocacy for a stronger national government at the Constitutional Convention.

Governor of Virginia

In 1786, Randolph was elected the seventh Governor of Virginia, succeeding Patrick Henry. He served as governor from December 1, 1786, to December 1, 1788. His governorship coincided with a period of significant national upheaval, including Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts and the growing movement to revise or replace the Articles of Confederation. As governor, Randolph was a leading figure in Virginia's decision to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. He headed Virginia's delegation to the convention, which also included James Madison and George Mason.

Constitutional Convention

Edmund Randolph played a central role at the Constitutional Convention, which met in Philadelphia from May to September 1787. On May 29, 1787, Randolph presented the Virginia Plan to the assembled delegates. The Virginia Plan, largely drafted by James Madison, proposed a national government with three separate branches—legislative, executive, and judicial—and a bicameral legislature with representation proportional to each state's population. The introduction of the Virginia Plan set the terms of debate for the entire convention and became the foundational framework around which the final Constitution was constructed.

Randolph also served on the Convention's Committee of Detail, a five-member body tasked with taking the resolutions and decisions made on the convention floor and drafting them into a coherent constitutional document. The Committee of Detail met in late July and early August 1787, and its work produced the first full draft of the Constitution, which the convention then debated and amended over the following weeks.

Despite his significant contributions to the creation of the Constitution, Randolph ultimately refused to sign the final document on September 17, 1787. He was one of only three delegates present at the final session who declined to sign, along with George Mason of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. Of the fifty-five delegates who attended the Constitutional Convention, thirty-nine signed the Constitution; Randolph, Mason, and Gerry constituted the most notable dissenters.

Randolph's reasons for refusing to sign were complex. He expressed concerns about several provisions of the final document and argued that the Constitution as drafted gave too much power to the federal government without adequate safeguards for individual liberties and state sovereignty. He also objected to the absence of a bill of rights. However, Randolph's opposition was not absolute. He stated that he reserved the right to support or oppose ratification after further reflection and public deliberation. In a notable reversal, when the Virginia ratifying convention met in 1788, Randolph ultimately supported ratification of the Constitution, arguing that the dangers of disunion outweighed his reservations about the document's imperfections. His support was significant in Virginia's closely contested ratification debate, where he faced opposition from powerful anti-federalist figures including Patrick Henry and George Mason.

First United States Attorney General

Following the ratification of the Constitution and the inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States, Randolph was appointed the first United States Attorney General on September 26, 1789. Washington's selection of Randolph for this newly created position reflected both the president's personal trust in Randolph, dating back to the Revolutionary War, and Randolph's extensive legal experience as Virginia's attorney general for a decade.

As the first Attorney General, Randolph was responsible for establishing the office and defining its role within the new federal government. The position was not yet a full cabinet-level office in the modern sense; the Attorney General served as the government's chief legal adviser and represented the United States in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, but did not yet oversee a Department of Justice, which would not be created until 1870. Randolph held the office from September 26, 1789, to January 26, 1794, when he was succeeded by William Bradford.

During his tenure, Randolph provided legal opinions on a range of constitutional questions facing the new government, including issues related to the scope of federal power, the constitutionality of proposed legislation, and the interpretation of the new Constitution. He served alongside other members of Washington's cabinet, including Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and Secretary of War Henry Knox.

Secretary of State

On January 2, 1794, Randolph succeeded Thomas Jefferson as the second United States Secretary of State, again by appointment of President Washington. His tenure as Secretary of State occurred during a period of intense international tension, as the United States sought to maintain neutrality amid the wars of the French Revolution that engulfed Europe. The question of American relations with France and Great Britain dominated foreign policy debates within the Washington administration, with Hamilton's faction favoring closer ties with Britain and Jefferson's supporters advocating for the French republic.

Randolph attempted to chart a moderate course between the Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian factions within the administration. He supported Washington's policy of neutrality and was involved in negotiations related to Jay's Treaty with Great Britain, a controversial agreement that sought to resolve outstanding issues from the Revolutionary War and regulate commerce between the two nations.

Randolph's tenure as Secretary of State came to an abrupt and controversial end in August 1795. A French diplomatic dispatch—intercepted by the British and passed to the Washington administration—appeared to suggest that Randolph had made improper overtures to the French minister, Joseph Fauchet, and had possibly solicited French bribes to influence American policy. The dispatch, known as "Fauchet's Dispatch No. 10," was presented to Washington, who confronted Randolph with the allegations in the presence of other cabinet members. Randolph, protesting his innocence, resigned from office on August 20, 1795. He was succeeded as Secretary of State by Timothy Pickering.

The circumstances of Randolph's resignation remained a subject of debate. Randolph maintained that the French dispatches had been mistranslated and misinterpreted, and that he had never engaged in any corrupt dealings with France. He published a lengthy pamphlet, A Vindication of Mr. Randolph's Resignation (1795), in which he presented his defense and argued that political enemies within the administration—particularly those aligned with Hamilton—had conspired to remove him from office. Historians have generally concluded that the evidence against Randolph was ambiguous and that the charges of corruption were never substantiated.

Later Legal Career

After his resignation as Secretary of State, Randolph returned to the practice of law in Virginia. He represented Aaron Burr during Burr's treason trial in 1807, one of the most prominent legal cases of the early republic. Despite his forced departure from the Washington administration, Randolph remained an active and respected member of the Virginia bar during his later years.

Personal Life

Edmund Randolph was born into the Randolph family, one of the most politically prominent families in Virginia's history. His uncle, Peyton Randolph, served as President of the Continental Congress, and the family's influence extended across multiple generations of Virginia's legal and political leadership. His father, John Randolph, served as the colonial Attorney General of Virginia before departing for England as a Loyalist at the outbreak of the Revolution.

Randolph had at least one son, Peyton Randolph, named after his uncle.

In his later years, Randolph lived in Virginia. He died on September 12, 1813, at Millwood, in Clarke County, Virginia. He was interred at Old Chapel near Millwood.

Recognition

Edmund Randolph's contributions to the founding of the United States have been recognized in various ways. Randolph County, West Virginia, was named in his honor, reflecting his significance as a Virginia statesman during the period when present-day West Virginia was part of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons established the Director's Edmund Randolph Award, recognizing his legacy as the nation's first Attorney General.

Randolph's role at the Constitutional Convention, particularly his introduction of the Virginia Plan and his service on the Committee of Detail, has been the subject of extensive historical scholarship. His unusual position as a delegate who helped draft the Constitution but refused to sign it, only to support its ratification at the Virginia convention, has made him a figure of particular interest to constitutional historians. The National Constitution Center has highlighted Randolph, along with George Mason and Elbridge Gerry, as the three notable dissenters to the Constitution among the delegates present at the convention's final session.

His papers and correspondence are preserved in various archival collections, including those held by the Library of Virginia.

Legacy

Edmund Randolph's career placed him at the center of nearly every major political development in the founding period of the United States. As Virginia's first Attorney General, he helped establish the legal framework of the newly independent Commonwealth. As governor, he led Virginia's delegation to the Constitutional Convention at a moment when the future structure of American government hung in the balance. His introduction of the Virginia Plan at the convention set the terms of debate that resulted in the creation of a strong federal government with separated powers—a framework that has endured for more than two centuries.

Randolph's decision to refuse to sign the Constitution, followed by his support for its ratification, illustrated the complex and often conflicted attitudes of the Founders toward the document they created. His concerns about the lack of a bill of rights were shared by many Americans and contributed to the adoption of the first ten amendments to the Constitution in 1791.

As the first United States Attorney General, Randolph established the precedents and practices of an office that would grow into one of the most important positions in the federal government. His subsequent service as Secretary of State, though cut short by controversy, demonstrated the breadth of his public service and his close relationship with George Washington.

The controversy surrounding his resignation as Secretary of State has been reassessed by historians. While the episode damaged Randolph's reputation during his lifetime, subsequent scholarship has generally treated the accusations against him with skepticism, noting the political motivations of those who brought the charges and the ambiguous nature of the evidence.

Randolph's life also reflected the personal costs of the American Revolution. His break with his Loyalist father over the question of independence was emblematic of the family divisions that the Revolution produced across the colonies. His subsequent career demonstrated that those who chose the patriot cause could rise to the highest levels of the new republic, even when that choice required severing ties with their own families.

A biography of Randolph, Edmund Randolph: A Biography, was published by John J. Reardon and provides a comprehensive account of his life and career.