Edmund Randolph: A Biography

by John J. Reardon

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

517 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

John J. Reardon is Professor of History at Loyola University in Chicago.

Reviews

[Henry Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edmund Randolph is virtually forgotten by almost anyone who isn’t a noted expert on American government or US history. But that is unfortunate, for Randolph was a pivotal Founder. Going against the desires of his Loyalist father, Randolph was briefly an aide to General Washington and later his personal lawyer, rising through the ranks to serve as a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention, a state legislator, AG of Virginia, a member of the Continental Congress, governor of Virginia, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and a key figure in ratifying the very document he refused to sign. This significant record of accomplishment, combined with a prudent, lawyerly outlook, made him a natural choice to serve as the nation’s first AG and later as its second Secretary of State. Due to scandal, Randolph eventually resigns and returns to private practice. He died in financial straits and largely forgotten by his fellow Americans. But John J. Reardon shows us why we must remember Edmund Randolph and his considered advice during the early years of the Republic and during the Washington administration. This is certainly a good read for anyone looking to understand America in its early years. Rating: 4/5

[Martin Lowery · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biography of Americas first Attorney General is riveting. From his early days as a Virginian lawyer, to his top post as Washingtons "middle man" in making administrative decisions, the biography covers the life with intense detail.

With this intensity, some may struggle, as it's not a light read. I found myself skimming some of the more mundane aspects of his eventual dismissal from Washingtons cabinet, and his tit for tat told through letters in presenting his defense.

Highly recommend it for people who are interested in American history, but it wouldn't be enjoyable for someone who wouldn't be interested in the historical backdrop of the book.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the government under our Constitution got rolling our first president had created three different departments, State, Treasury, and War in that established pecking order. A fourth cabinet
officer was authorized, the Attorney General. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and
Henry Knox who had departments to run, the Attorney General had no department, consequently no
patronage either. The functions of that office were to simply give legal advice to the president and
to represent the federal government in cases before the new Supreme Court. As the Supreme Court
had few cases back in those first days all Edmund Randolph had to do was be at the beck and call of
the president.

So with only advice to give George Washington thought why not just get my personal lawyer and so
Edmund Randolph a member of one of Virginia's largest families got the job. No one ever disputed
Randolph's legal qualifications, not even his future enemies. Randolph as this book describes him
was by nature a conciliatory sort. He was before being tapped by Washington for the first cabinet
had been a delegate to the Continental Congress, member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Governor and Attorney General of the state. When he got in the cabinet he was distantly related
to Thomas Jefferson and on good enough terms with Alexander Hamilton to borrow money from him.

When Jefferson left the cabinet Washington made him our second Secretary of State. Like his
president Randolph sought to steer a clearly neutral path between Great Britain and France as war
heated up between the new French Republic and the United Kingdom. But that was not good enough for Timothy Pickering who was the new Secretary of War.

Pickering may have been one of the most unpleasant individuals in our history. Blessed with a
dour Puritan character he had a maniacal self righteous certainty about all he espoused. What he
espoused at that time was closer relations to Great Britain. Randolph stood in the way.

To this day no one can say for certainty what Randolph was doing exactly. The author feels he
committed some diplomatic indiscretions with the French minister Fauchet. Those came back to
haunt him as Pickering presented a half baked treason cake to Washington who asked for Randolph's resignation. He got it, but to the end of his days Randolph felt a personal betrayal from
his friend George Washington.

After his time in the Cabinet was terminated, Randolph went back to Richmond, Virginia and practiced law. He and his wife enjoyed a happy marriage without a hint of scandal and several
children.

Author John J. Reardon brings you the facts and has his own conclusion. But you can be your own
judge about Edmund Randolph.

[Jerry Landry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should start off by saying that I would not recommend this book to a casual reader. However, for my fellow history buffs, then this is an excellent book to read. Going into this book, I knew some about Randolph in terms of his interactions within Washington's administration and his ultimate resignation in disgrace, but I knew little about his career before joining the administration or the man behind the offices he held. Reardon does an excellent job of taking the reader through as detailed as possible of an account of Randolph's life and readily admits when there is scant information to reach a solid conclusion and he has to use an educated guess to fill in the blanks. In some ways, it feels as though, in the process of reading the biography, one is present with Reardon in the various archives, peeling away the layers of history and examining what information remains of the time. I did find that I had to consult the end notes often in order to get the full picture as Reardon would include interesting additional factoids and explanations in the end notes. Overall, I felt that I got a well-rounded picture of Randolph and that Reardon produced an excellent scholarly biography.