William Branch Giles

William Branch Giles
portrait by John Adams Elder
24th Governor of Virginia
In office
March 4, 1827 – March 4, 1830
Preceded byJohn Tyler
Succeeded byJohn Floyd
United States Senator
from Virginia
In office
December 4, 1804 – March 3, 1815
Preceded byAndrew Moore
Succeeded byArmistead T. Mason
In office
August 11, 1804 – December 4, 1804
Appointed byJohn Page
Preceded byAbraham B. Venable
Succeeded byAndrew Moore
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 9th district
In office
March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1803
Preceded byJoseph Eggleston
Succeeded byPhilip R. Thompson
In office
December 7, 1790 – October 2, 1798
Preceded byTheodorick Bland
Succeeded byJoseph Eggleston
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Amelia County
In office
1826–1827
In office
1816–1817
In office
1798–1800
Personal details
Born(1762-08-12)August 12, 1762
Amelia Courthouse, Colony of Virginia, British America
DiedDecember 4, 1830(1830-12-04) (aged 68)
Amelia Courthouse, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Alma materCollege of William & Mary
Hampden–Sydney College

William Branch Giles (August 12, 1762 – December 4, 1830; the g is pronounced like a j) was an American statesman, long-term Senator from Virginia, and the 24th Governor of Virginia. He served in the House of Representatives from 1790 to 1798 and again from 1801 to 1803; in between, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and was an Elector for Jefferson (and Aaron Burr) in 1800. He served as a United States Senator from 1804 to 1815 and then served briefly in the House of Delegates again. After a time in private life, he joined the opposition to John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay in 1824; he ran for the Senate again in 1825 and was defeated but appointed Governor for three one-year terms in 1827; he was succeeded by John Floyd, in the year of his death.