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Office of the Attorney General

Historical Biography

Attorney General: William Bradford

Bradford, William
2nd Attorney General, -
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William Bradford was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 14, 1755. He obtained both a bachelor’s and master’s degree at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) before studying law under Edward Shippen IV, who later became chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Bradford served in the Pennsylvania militia for a short time before joining the Continental Army as a captain in July 1776. He served in uniform until resigning in April 1779 at the rank of lieutenant colonel. Bradford was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1779. In 1780, he was appointed Pennsylvania’s attorney general, an office he went on to hold until 1791. 

Bradford served as justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1794, when President George Washington appointed him Attorney General of the United States. He died in office on August 23, 1795, at the age of 39.

About the Artist: William E. Winner (1815-1883)
William E. Winner was born in Philadelphia in 1815 and worked there primarily until his death in 1883. He was a portrait and genre painter and active in the Board of Control of the Artists' Fund Society. Winner's work was recognized during his lifetime and was exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Boston Athenaeum, and the American Academy. He painted Attorney General Bradford's portrait from a prior portrait in 1872.
Updated June 29, 2026