Upon the death of his uncle Peyton Randolph in October 1775, Randolph returned to Virginia to act as executor of the estate, and while there was elected as a representative to the Fourth Virginia Convention. He was later mayor of Williamsburg, and then Attorney general of Virginia, a post he held until 1786.
Washington's World Colonial Music Institute Quotes George Washington Commemorations Project Edmund Randolph was born on August 10, 1753, to a prominent Virginia family. After graduating from the College of William & Mary, he pursued a career in law.
Edmund Randolph. Randolph was tasked with essentially defining the country’s justice system. In 1794, he replaced Jefferson as Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, Randolph oversaw the resolution of the Citizen Genêt Affair, in which the French diplomat Edmond Genêt encouraged American privateers to seize British merchant ships –...
He was elected attorney general of Virginia in 1776, served until 1782 and served as Governor of Virginia from 1786-1788. On September 26, 1789, Randolph was appointed the first Attorney General of the United States by President Washington.
Randolph had handled much of President Washington's personal legal work, and Washington appointed him as the first Attorney General of the United States in 1789 and then as Secretary of State in 1794. After leaving government service, Randolph represented Aaron Burr during Burr's 1807 trial for treason.
After President Washington took office in 1789, he appointed Randolph—who had handled much of Washington's personal legal work—to the post of U.S. attorney general. Upon Thomas Jefferson's resignation as secretary of state in December 1793, Randolph was chosen to replace him.
age 23During the war Edmund served as an aide-de-camp to General Washington and also attended the convention that adopted Virginia's first state constitution in 1776. He was the convention's youngest member at age 23.
September 26, 1789On September 26, 1789, Randolph was appointed the first Attorney General of the United States by President Washington.
Edmund Jennings RandolphThe Judiciary Act of 1789 established the Office of the Attorney General. On September 26, 1789, Edmund Jennings Randolph was appointed the first Attorney General of the United States by President George Washington.
Edmund RandolphIn selecting the four members of his first cabinet—Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state, Alexander Hamilton as secretary of treasury, Henry Knox as secretary of war, and Edmund Randolph as attorney general—Washington balanced the two parties evenly.
Randolph ultimately refused to sign the final document, one of only three members who remained in the Constitutional Convention but refused to sign (the others were the fellow Virginian George Mason and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts).
Edmund Randolph was born on August 10, 1753, to a prominent Virginia family. After graduating from the College of William & Mary, he pursued a career in law. He served as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington in 1775 and later had an extensive political career.
60 years (1753–1813)Edmund Randolph / Age at death
List of United States AttorneysDistrictAttorneyLeft officeAlabamaU.S. Attorney for the W.D. of ArkansasDuane KeesJanuary 17, 2020David Clay FowlkesCalifornia143 more rows
Another duty of the attorney general is to give legal advice to the president and the other cabinet members. The attorney general is also the chief law enforcement officer in the United States. Congress created the job of attorney general in 1789 when it passed the act that established the president's cabinet.
Merrick GarlandUnited States / Attorney generalMerrick Brian Garland is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the 86th United States attorney general since March 2021. He served as a circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1997 to 2021. Wikipedia
He was elected attorney general of Virginia in 1776, served until 1782 and served as Governor of Virginia from 1786-1788. On September 26, 1789, Randolph was appointed the first Attorney General of the United States by President Washington. In 1794 he was appointed Secretary of State. He served in this position until 1795.
He attended the College of William and Mary and studied law in his father's office. He was a supporter of the Revolution and served as General George Washington's aide-de-camp in 1775. Randolph was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a member of the Constitutional Convention. He was elected attorney general of Virginia in 1776, ...
He was also elected as Virginia’s first Attorney General and Mayor of Williamsburg at the end of the Convention. In 1779, Randolph was selected to represent Virginia as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in 1786 he was elected governor of Virginia.
After graduating from the College of William & Mary, he pursued a career in law. He served as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington in 1775 and later had an extensive political career. Randolph is perhaps best remembered for introducing the Virginia Plan to the Constitutional Convention, which proposed a legislative branch consisting ...
Despite Washington’s confidence in him, Randolph resigned as Governor in 1788 in favor of serving in Virginia’s House of Delegates. He did not remain in the House of Delegates for long, because in 1789 Washington appointed him as the nation’s first Attorney General.
As Secretary of State, Randolph oversaw the resolution of the Citizen Genêt Affair, in which the French diplomat Edmond Genêt encouraged American privateers to seize British merchant ships – a direct violation of the United States government’s policy of neutrality in the war between France and Great Britain.
Edmund Randolph was born in August 1753 to John Randolph and Ariana Jenings at Williamsburg, Virginia. Their home was called Tazewell Hall. The family was well established in colonial politics and legal matters, having moved to America from England in the mid-1600s. His father, uncle, and grandfather all served as attorneys for the British Crown in the Virginia colony. Ariana's father was also a king's attorney in the colony of Maryland.
In August, he gathered letters of recommendation from various prominent Virginians and presented them to General George Washington (1732–1799; see entry in volume 2) in Boston, hoping to become an army camp aide. He was successful in gaining the appointment. However, Randolph found that military life did not appeal to him. Upon the sudden death of his uncle, Peyton Randolph (c. 1721–1775), who was in Philadelphia serving as president of the First Continental Congress, Edmund took leave from his brief military assignment. He accompanied his uncle's body back to Virginia for burial and remained there to manage his uncle's estate.
Change came for Randolph in 1786. In November, he was elected governor of Virginia and also sent as a Virginia delegate to a meeting among states in Annapolis, Maryland, in September. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss common problems under the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution , which had become effective in 1781. However, only five states sent delegates. The delegates at the Annapolis meeting sent a proposal to the Continental Congress to bring together delegates from the thirteen states the following May in Philadelphia to improve the Articles.
Edmund Randolph was highly influential in the political shaping of America, particularly between 1776 and 1800, when he served as Virginia's first attorney general, Virginia state governor, the first U.S. attorney general, and the nation's second secretary of state. Coming from a family with a colonial legal background, Randolph was very intelligent and highly respected for his legal knowledge. Randolph played a key role at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, serving on a committee that developed an early draft of the U.S. Constitution.
The biography of Randolph by John J. Reardon, in progress, should become the standard work. Samuel F. Bemis, Jay's Treaty: A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy (1923; rev. ed. 1962), covers Randolph's career as secretary of state.
The position was a challenge, in part because of Hamilton's continued involvement in foreign issues, which were normally the responsibility of the secretary of state.
The biography of Randolph by John J. Reardon, in progress, should become the standard work. Samuel F. Bemis, Jay's Treaty: A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy (1923; rev. ed. 1962), covers Randolph's career as secretary of state.
Reardon, John J. Edmund Randolph; a biograp, New York, Macmillan 1975, 1974.