John Marshall was born in a log cabin on the Virginia frontier in 1755, the eldest of fifteen children. He served through the brutal winter at Valley Forge as an officer of the Continental Line — an experience that made him, permanently, a nationalist. His formal legal education consisted of a few weeks of lectures at William & Mary; everything else was native ability.
He became the leading appellate lawyer in Virginia, a key Federalist voice at the state's ratification convention, a diplomat in the XYZ Affair ("millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute" was attributed to his mission), a congressman, and John Adams's Secretary of State. In January 1801, in the last months of his presidency, Adams needed a Chief Justice. Jay declined, saying the Court lacked energy, weight, and dignity. Adams turned to Marshall and later said: "My gift of John Marshall to the people of the United States was the proudest act of my life."