Before the Revolution he was an avocat in Paris and lieutenant of the maritime provostship of Rochefort. In 1789 he was elected deputy to the States General by the Third Estate of the sénéchaussée of Saint Jean d'Angély. His eloquence made him a prominent figure in the Constituent Assembly, where he boldly attacked Mirabeau, and settled the dispute about the ashes of Voltaire by decreeing that they belonged to the nation. But the moderation shown by the measures he proposed at the time of the flight of the king to Varennes, by his refusal to accede to the demands for the king's execution, and by the articles he published in the Journal de Paris and the Ami des patriotes, marked him out for the hostility of the advanced parties.
He was arrested after the revolution of August 10, 1792, but succeeded in escaping, and during the reaction which followed the fall of Robespierre was appointed administrator of the military hospitals in Paris. His powers of organization brought him to Bonaparte's notice, and he took, part in the coup d'état of 18 Brumaire, year VIII. (November 9, 1799). Under the Empire he enjoyed the confidence of Bonaparte, and was made councillor of state, president of election in the council of State, member of the Académie française, procureur général of the high court, and a count of the Empire.
He was dismissed on the first restoration of the Bourbonss, but resumed his posts during the Hundred Days, and after Waterloo persuaded the emperor to abdicate. He was exiled by the government of the second Restoration, but subsequently obtained leave to return to France. He died on the day of his return to Paris. Les Souvenirs du Comte Regnault de St Jean d'Angély (Paris, 1817) are spurious. His son, Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely was Marshal of France.
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