Edmund Jennings Randolph

Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753-1813), American founding father, who played a leading role in the federal Constitutional Convention.

Randolph was born August 10, 1753, near Williamsburg, Virginia, and educated at the College of William and Mary. He was aide-de-camp to George Washington in 1775, when the latter became commander in chief of the Continental Army. In 1776 he became a member of the Virginia constitutional convention and was appointed state attorney general, a position he held until 1786. From 1779 to 1782 Randolph was also a member of the Continental Congress, and from 1786 to 1788 he was governor of Virginia. As the leader of the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he submitted the famous Virginia Plan, which provided for a Senate elected by a House of Representatives. When this plan was rejected, Randolph opposed the final draft of the Constitution approved by the Convention. In 1788, however, he urged the ratification of the Constitution by his native state to promote unity. From 1789 to 1794 Randolph was U.S. attorney general, and in 1794 he succeeded Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state. The next year, the British minister to the U.S. released intercepted dispatches from the French minister at Philadelphia to his home government; these falsely accused Randolph of giving secret information and of seeking bribes. Randolph resigned as secretary of state in August 1795, his public standing permanently compromised. Later that year the French minister denied the charges against Randolph. Randolph returned to his law practice, and in 1807 he was chief counsel for accused conspirator Aaron Burr during his trial for treason. Randolph's name was completely cleared only after he died at his estate in Clarke County, Virginia, on September 12, 1813.