1745-1829

He was a New York delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses.

He was appointed diplomatic minister to Spain in 1779 and later helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain - the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War.

Along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, he wrote letters to newspapers encouraging the approval of the new Constitution. These letters were later published as the influential book, "The Federalist."

President George Washington appointed him the first chief justice of the United States.