Bill Richardson
- For the CBC Radio host by this name please see Bill Richardson (radio).
Bill Richardson, formally William Blaine Richardson (born November 15, 1947), is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He has served as a congressman, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, U.S. Secretary of Energy, and the Governor of New Mexico, his current position. He was also chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention that nominated John Kerry for the presidency.
Richardson was born in Pasadena, California. His mother, Maria Luisa Lopez-Collada, was Mexican. His father was a native of Boston, who worked for Citibank as an executive in Mexico. He was raised in Mexico City, but as a teenager attended a Boston-area high school. Richardson played baseball in high school and was fine pitcher. He was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics but did not pursue baseball professionally. He went on to Tufts University, where he majored in French and Political Science. He then added a master's degree from Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He met his wife, Barbara Flavin, in Boston.
After college, he worked on congressional relations for the State Department. He was later a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 1978, he moved to Santa Fe and ran for U.S. Congress. He lost on his first attempt, but won on his second.
Richardson spent 15 years representing the Third District of New Mexico in the U.S. Congress. As a congressman, he kept his interest in foreign relations. He visited Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, India, North Korea, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the Sudan to represent U.S. interests. He became a member of the Democratic leadership where he worked closely with President Clinton on several issues.
In 1997, Bill Clinton appointed him to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. He served there until 1998, when he was appointed as U.S. Secretary of Energy. He served here until 2001. He oversaw the mishandling of the Wen Ho Lee case.
Richardson was elected governor of New Mexico in November 2002, defeating the Republican candidate, John Sanchez by 17 percentage points (56%-39%). He succeeded a two-term Republican governor, Gary Johnson. He took office in January 2003. Bill Richardson is the only Hispanic Governor in the United States.
Even as governor, Richardson continues to be interested in foreign policy. During the summer of 2003, he met with a delegation from North Korea to discuss concerns over that country's use of nuclear energy.
References
- Traveling Troubleshooter Is Ready to Settle Down, at the U.N.:THE SECOND TERM: The New Lineup William Blaine Richardson, James Brooke, New York Times, Dec 14, 1996. pg. 11, 1 pgs
| Preceded by: Federico Peña |
Secretary of Energy | Succeeded by: Spencer Abraham |
| Preceded by: Madeleine Albright |
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. | Succeeded by: Richard Holbrooke |
| Preceded by: Gary Johnson |
Governor of New Mexico | Succeeded by: - |