Richard Clinton was born in North Carolina in about 1741. A planter in Duplin County, North Carolina, Clinton served as a major in the North Carolina Militia during the War of Regulation. Later during the American Revolution Clinton allied himself with the Patriot cause and represented Duplin in the Third North Carolina Provincial Congress. He also served as a captain and later colonel in the Duplin County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia. Clinton served as a state senator for Sampson County from 1784 until his death on 22 January 1795.