Robert R. Livingston practiced law in New York before joining the revolutionary movement. He served in the provincial convention and the Continental Congress, where he became one of the five members appointed to prepare the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He returned to responsibilities in New York before the signing and did not sign the document. His work instead turned toward establishing the institutions of the new state.

Livingston participated in framing New York's constitution and became chancellor in 1777, heading its court of equity until 1801. As secretary for foreign affairs under the Confederation from 1781 to 1783, he managed diplomatic correspondence during the closing stages of the Revolutionary War. He supported the Constitution and administered George Washington's presidential oath in New York on April 30, 1789. His political alliances subsequently moved toward the Jeffersonian Republicans.

Appointed minister to France in 1801, Livingston sought protection for American commercial interests and access to the Mississippi. When Napoleon offered to sell the whole Louisiana territory, Livingston and James Monroe negotiated the purchase in 1803. The offer reached far beyond their original instructions. Its terms transferred France's claim to an immense territory for fifteen million dollars, without consulting the Indigenous nations whose lands and sovereignty were affected.

Livingston also pursued agricultural improvement and mechanical innovation. He promoted merino sheep and supported societies concerned with useful knowledge. His partnership with Robert Fulton helped establish commercially successful steamboat service on the Hudson in 1807, supported by New York navigation privileges. This was a business and engineering collaboration rather than the first invention of steam navigation. He retired to Clermont and died in 1813. His activities linked revolutionary government and diplomacy with investment in agriculture and transport.