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Randolph was born at Tazewell Hall to the prominent colonial Randolph family in Williamsburg, Virginia, and he was educated in law at the College of William and Mary. After graduation he began practicing law with his father John Randolph's firm. In 1775, with the start of the American Revolution, most of the Randolph family, largely Loyalists, returned to Britain; Edmund Randolph, on the contrary, joined the Continental ArmyThe Continental Army was the unified command structure of the thirteen colonies fighting Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. The Army was created by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 15, 1775. Most of the Continental Army w as aide-de-camp to General George WashingtonGeorge Washington ( February 22, 1732— December 14, 1799), also called Father of his Country 1 was an American general and Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War ( 1775 1783) and later the first President of the Unite.

Upon the death of his uncle Peyton RandolphPeyton Randolph ( September, 1721 October 21, 1775) was the first President of the Continental Congress. He presided from September 5 to October 21, 1774, and then again for a few days in 1775 from May 10 to May 23. He was succeeded in office by Henry Mid he went to Virginia to act as executor of the estate, and while there was elected as a representative to the state constitutional convention. He would go on to serve as mayor of Williamsburg, and then as the first attorney general of Virginia under the newly-formed state government.

Randolph was selected as a delegate to the Continental CongressThe Continental Congress was the federal legislature of the Thirteen Colonies and later of the United States from 1774 to 1789, a period that included the American Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation. There were two Continental Congresses. in 1779, and served there to 1782. During this period he also remained in private law practice, handling numerous legal issues for George Washington among others.

Randolph was elected Governor of Virginia in 1786, that same year leading a delegation to the Annapolis convention where he introduced the Virginia PlanThe Virginia Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Written by James Madison and proposed by Edmund Randolph (devised, however, by others), it pushed for a strong central government.. Later as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention he argued against importation of slaves and in favor of a strong central government, advocating a plan for three chief executives from various parts of the country. He was also a member of the "committee on detail" which was tasked with drawing up the final version of the Constitution. Randolph, however, refused to sign the final document, believing the form of government it would engender had insufficient checks and balances, and published an account of his objections in October of 1787. He nevertheless urged its ratification in 1788, seeing its adoption as necessary at that point.

He was appointed U.S. Attorney General in September 1789, maintaining a precarious neutrality in the feud between Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson Other images: (, , ) Order 3rd President Term of Office Monday, March 4, 1801 Thursday, March 3, 1809 Followed John Adams Succeeded by James Madison Date of Birth April 13, 1743 Place of Birth Shadwell, Virginia Date of Death Tuesday, Jul (of whom Randolph was a distant relative) and Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton ( January 11, 1755 or 1757 1 July 12, 1804) was an American statesman, journalist, and lawyer. He is credited as being America's greatest constitutional lawyer. As the principal author of the Federalist Papers, he successfully defended. When Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State in 1793, Randolph succeeded him to the position. In this post he held a similar strict neutrality between the interests of France and Great Britain, earning the scorn of both in the process.

Randolph set forth the guidelines for John Jay's mission to London in 1794; these were, however, ignored; the resulting Jay's Treaty left Randolph to mollify both France and the Federalists; in this he was largely unsuccessful.

Near the end of his term as Secretary of State negotiations for Pinckney's Treaty were finalized.

A scandal involving an intercepted French message implying Randolph was prone to bribery led to his resignation August 1795, although the allegations were provably unfounded.

After leaving the cabinet he returned to Virginia to practice law; his most famous case was that of defense counsel during Aaron Burr's trial for treason in 1807.

Randolph died at his home, Carter Hall, near Millwood, Virginia in Clarke County.