American lawyer and politician, President of the Continental Congress (died 1794)

Richard Henry Lee

Richard Henry Lee was an American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia, best known for the June 1776 Lee Resolution, the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain leading to the United States Declaration of Independence, which he signed. Lee also served a one-year term as the president of the Continental Congress, proposed and was a signatory to the Continental Association, signed the Articles of Confederation, and was a United States senator from Virginia from 1789 to 1792, serving part of that time as the second president pro tempore of the upper house. He was a member of the Lee family, a historically influential family in Virginia politics.

Born

1732

January 20

Died

Living

Era

1730s

Country

—

About

Richard, in brief

Richard Henry Lee was an American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia, best known for the June 1776 Lee Resolution, the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain leading to the United States Declaration of Independence, which he signed. Lee also served a one-year term as the president of the Continental Congress, proposed and was a signatory to the Continental Association, signed the Articles of Confederation, and was a United States senator from Virginia from 1789 to 1792, serving part of that time as the second president pro tempore of the upper house. He was a member of the Lee family, a historically influential family in Virginia politics.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

  1. 1732 Born

Also on January 20

What else happened on this day, through history

See all of January 20 →

Same-day contemporaries

Also born on January 20

Chandra Wickramasinghe 1939– Sri Lankan-English mathematician, astronomer, and biologist David Lynch 1946–2025 American television and film director, visual artist and musician, complications from emphysema (born 1946) Derek Dougan 1938–2007 Irish-English footballer and journalist (died 2007) Enoch L. Johnson 1883–1968 American mob boss (born 1883) Eric Stewart 1945– English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer J. J. McCarthy 2003– American football player Jan Muršak 1988– Slovenian ice hockey player Jeffrey Epstein 1953–2019 American financier and child sex trafficker (born 1953) José Luis Garci 1944– Spanish director and producer

See everything on January 20 →

Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1732

William Cushing 1732– American lawyer and judge (died 1810)

Keep going

More to explore

Richard's birthday January 20 Richard's zodiac Aquarius Browse People A–Z