Robert Goodloe Harper (1765–1825) served in the Revolutionary War and later studied law in Charleston, South Carolina. He was elected to the House of Representatives and served from February 1795 to March 1801. He later moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and engaged in the practice of law; served in the War of 1812, attaining the rank of major general. In 1815 he was elected from Maryland to the United States Senate and served until December 1816, when he resigned after an unsuccessful Federalist candidacy for vice president.