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John Marshall (1800-1801): Secretary of State

John Marshall was born on September 24, 1755, in Fauquier County, Virginia, and attended the College of William and Mary. Marshall was a member of the Continental Army; he volunteered in 1775, as first lieutenant, and served until 1781. He began his own law practice later that year but was soon committing most of his time to politics.

Accounts of his legislative service in Virginia vary, but Marshall certainly spent a number of years in the Virginia Assembly (either 1782 to 1791 and 1795 to 1797 or 1782 to 1788). A member of the state constitutional convention to ratify the federal constitution in 1788, Marshall may have served on the Virginia executive council as well (1782-1795).

He proceeded from state to national service, acting as one of three U.S. commissioners to France (1797-1798). Renowned as a participant in the infamous XYZ affair, Marshall gained a seat in Congress the year following his return as a representative from Virginia (1799-1800).

Marshall became a member of President John Adams' cabinet in 1800, serving as secretary of state for the last year of the Adams administration (1800-1801). Two months before Adams left office, however, the President named Marshall chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. After serving in that capacity for thirty-five years, Marshall died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while still in office, on July 6, 1835.