A native of Madison County, New York, Charles Fairchild was the descendent of a colonial New England family. He graduated Harvard Law School in 1865 and joined his father's law practice in Albany. Soon thereafter, Fairchild followed in his father's footsteps and entered Democratic politics. He garnered the position of assistant attorney general of New York in 1874, earning praise for prosecuting police and "canal ring" corruption cases.

Impressed with Fairchild's efforts, Governor Samuel Tilden secured his nomination for attorney general in 1875. Winning the election, Fairchild served in that position until 1877. When New Yorker Grover Cleveland won the presidency in 1884, Fairchild's close friend Daniel Manning was working as Cleveland’s first secretary of the treasury; Manning was ill, however, and Fairchild, as assistant secretary, helped reorganize the Treasury Department. When Manning's poor health forced his resignation on October 1, 1887, Cleveland chose Fairchild as his replacement. He served until the end of Cleveland's term.

During his time in office, Fairchild worked toward tariff reform. After Cleveland's defeat in 1888, Fairchild served as president of the New York Security and Trust Company in Manhattan until 1905. He also remained active in politics as a "Gold Democrat." He was an opponent of women's suffrage, challenging the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in the US Supreme Court. The Court ruled that as a private citizen, Fairchild did not have standing to challenge its ratification. He died in 1924.