He studied under private tutors, at private schools, the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), and Columbia College, New York City. He studied law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but never practiced; engaged in several duels. Randolph was elected to the Sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1799 to March 3, 1813). He was chairman, Committee on Ways and Means (Seventh through Ninth Congresses);
He was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in January 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against John Pickering, judge of the United States District Court for New Hampshire, and in December of the same year against Samuel Chase, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Randolph was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1812 to the Thirteenth Congress.
He elected to the Fourteenth Congress (March 4, 1815-March 3, 1817); not a candidate for reelection in 1816 to the Fifteenth Congress. He was elected to the Sixteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1819, until his resignation, effective December 26, 1825. Randolph was appointed to the United States Senate December 8, 1825, to fill the vacancy in the term beginning March 4, 1821, caused by the resignation of James Barbour and served from December 26, 1825, to March 3, 1827, he was unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Senate in 1827; elected to the Twentieth Congress (March 4, 1827-March 3, 1829); was not a candidate for reelection to the Twenty-first Congress. He served as chairman, Committee on Ways and Means (Twentieth Congress).
He was a member of the Virginia constitutional convention at Richmond in 1829. He was appointed United States Minister to Russia by President Andrew Jackson and served from May to September, 1830, when he resigned; he was elected to the Twenty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1833, until his death May 24, 1833.
Adapted from Congressional Biography