Background
Charles was born to Henry (1730–1787) and Lucy (Grymes) Lee on his father"s plantation of Leesylvania in Prince William County, Virginia.
Charles was born to Henry (1730–1787) and Lucy (Grymes) Lee on his father"s plantation of Leesylvania in Prince William County, Virginia.
He graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) in 1775, and then read law with Jared Ingersoll in Philadelphia before returning to Virginia.
He served as United States Attorney General from 1795 until 1801 and Secretary of State ad interim from May 13, 1800 to June 5, 1800. Another brother was Congressman Richard Bland Before her death in 1804 the couple had six children. Anne Lucinda Lee (1790–1845), Infant Son (Arthur) Lee (1791–1791), Richard Henry Lee (February 1793 – March 1793), Charles Henry Lee (b October 1794), William Arthur Lee (September 1796 – 1817), Alfred Lee (1799–1865).
President Washington appointed Lee the Attorney General after William Bradford died in office.
After Senate approval he took office on December 10, 1795 and served through the rest of the administration. He was continued in office by John Adams and served through the entire Adams administration until February 19, 1801.
During his term in office Lee lived in Alexandria, which was then part of the capital district. He was an early advocate for the return of the southern part of the District of Columbia to Virginia, which finally happened in 1847.
After his time as Attorney General, he became the port officer for the District of the Potomac and among the most prominent trial lawyers in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Lee represented William Marbury and other appointees of John Adams in Marbury v. Madison, the landmark case against the Jefferson administration for unfulfilled political appointments. Laird. He declined Thomas Jefferson"s offer to appoint him a justice of the Supreme Court.
Lee died in 1815 in Fauquier County, Virginia, aged 56 or 57, and is buried in the Warrenton Cemetery in Warrenton.