The only American founder – and one of only a few Americans – to have served in all three branches of federal government, Marshall began his political career in 1782 as a delegate in the Virginia General Assembly representing Fauquier County, followed by a three-year stint, 1784 to 1787, representing Henrico County. A prominent member of the Federalist Party, he was sent as a delegate to the Virginia Ratification Convention in 1788.
In the 1790s, the nation was divided over its relations with warring Britain and France, and international hostilities continued into the Adams administration. When France severed diplomatic ties with the United States, John Adams, in search of peace, sent John Marshall as one of three envoys to Paris. These envoys became embroiled in what became known as the “XYZ Affair,” a scandal that inflamed anti-French opinion in the United States when American diplomatic correspondence, drafted by Marshall, was widely published. Marshall’s handling of the affair made him popular with the American public.
In 1798, President Washington, long impressed by his fellow soldier and Federalist friend, convinced Marshall to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Marshall was elected but served only one year. In 1800, President John Adams appointed him Secretary of State, and during that tenure, Marshall directed the negotiations of the Convention of 1800 that ended tensions with France and established a policy of neutrality that lasted almost a century.
