John J. Reardon

1730 Edmund Randolph: A Biography, by John J. Reardon (read 17 Jul 1982) Randolph was born in Williamsburg, VA, on Aug 10, 1753, and died Sept 12, 1813 in Frederick County, VA. The book is meticulous, amply footnoted, and plodding, but I enjoyed it. Randolph was governor of VA. and was the first U.S. Attorney-General and the second Secretary of State. He left the latter office because of intercepted letters of the French minister which convinced Washington that Randolph had acted improperly. Randolph never liked the law, but he went back to VA. to practice law and in some terms was involved in 50% of the cases heard by the highest court of Virginia! This seems unbelievable, but it was a different age. When he was Attorney-General he also practiced privately. It was a relatively simple time. I have enjoyed again being immersed in the age that has previously, in my reading of the multi-volume biographies of Washington and Jefferson, had much attention from me.… (més)