Randolph, Edmund Jennings

ran'dolf, Edmund Jennings (1753-1813), an American statesman. He was a native of Williamsburg, Virginia, and was educated at William and Mary College. Virginia sent him to Congress and made him governor. He was a member of the convention that framed the Constitution of the United States and, though it did not please him, he recommended its adoption. When the national government was established, Washington made him his first attorney-general. In 1794 he succeeded Jefferson as secretary of state, but, finding that he did not enjoy the confidence of the president, he resigned and retired to the practice of law in his native state.