69 Facts About Bill Richardson

William Blaine Richardson III was an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011.

Bill Richardson was US ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary in the Clinton administration, a US congressman, chair of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

In December 2008, Bill Richardson was nominated for the cabinet-level position of Secretary of Commerce in the first Obama administration but withdrew a month later, as he was being investigated for possible improper business dealings.

Bill Richardson occasionally provided advice on diplomatic issues pertaining to North Korea and visited the nation on several occasions, including efforts to release American detainees.

Bill Richardson completed a number of private humanitarian missions, one of which secured the release of US journalist Danny Fenster from a Myanmar prison in November 2021.

William Blaine Bill Richardson III was born in Pasadena, California, on November 15,1947.

Bill Richardson grew up in the borough of Coyoacan in Mexico City.

Bill Richardson's father was born on a ship heading towards Nicaragua.

Bill Richardson, a United States citizen by birth, spent his childhood in a lavish hacienda in Coyoacan's barrio of San Francisco where he was raised as a Roman Catholic.

When Bill Richardson was 13, his parents sent him to the US to attend Middlesex School, a preparatory school in Concord, Massachusetts, where he played baseball as a pitcher.

Bill Richardson entered Tufts University in 1966, where he continued to play baseball.

Bill Richardson acknowledged the error, which he maintained was unintentional, saying he had been scouted by several teams and told that he "would or could" be drafted, but he was mistaken in saying that he actually had been drafted.

Bill Richardson earned a Bachelor's degree at Tufts University in 1970, majoring in French and political science, and was a member and president of Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

Bill Richardson earned a master's degree in international affairs from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971.

Bill Richardson had met his future wife Barbara when they were in high school in Concord, Massachusetts, and they married in 1972 following her graduation from Wheaton College.

Two years later, Bill Richardson was elected to New Mexico's newly created third district, which took in most of the northern part of the state.

Bill Richardson spent 14 years in Congress, representing the country's most diverse district and holding 2,000 town meetings.

Bill Richardson served as Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the 98th Congress and as Chair of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Native American Affairs in the 103rd Congress.

Bill Richardson became a member of the Democratic leadership as a deputy majority whip, where he became friends with Bill Clinton after they worked closely on several issues, including when he served as the ranking House Democrat in favor of NAFTA's passage in 1993.

Bill Richardson visited Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba, Peru, India, North Korea, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Sudan to represent US interests and met with Slobodan Milosevic.

Bill Richardson served as US Ambassador to the United Nations from February 1997 to August 1998.

The Senate confirmed Bill Richardson to be Clinton's Secretary of Energy on July 31,1998.

Bill Richardson was criticized by the United States Senate for his handling of the espionage inquiry, which involved missing computer hard drives containing sensitive data, and for not testifying in front of Congress sooner.

Bill Richardson justified his response by saying that he was waiting to uncover more information before speaking to Congress.

Bill Richardson tightened security following the scandal, leading to the creation of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Bill Richardson created the Director for Native American Affairs position in the department in 1998, and in January 2000, oversaw the largest return of federal lands, 84,000 acres, to a Native American Tribe in more than 100 years.

Bill Richardson directed the overhaul of the department's consultation policy with Native American tribes and established the Tribal Energy Program.

Bill Richardson was an adjunct professor at Harvard Kennedy School and a lecturer at the United World College of the American West, and taught at the University of New Mexico, and New Mexico State University.

In 2000, Bill Richardson was awarded a United States Institute of Peace Senior Fellowship.

Bill Richardson spent the next year researching and writing on the negotiations with North Korea and the energy dimensions of US relations.

In 2011, Bill Richardson was named a senior fellow at the Baker Institute of Rice University.

Bill Richardson joined Kissinger McLarty Associates, a "strategic advisory firm" headed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty, as Senior Managing Director.

Bill Richardson served on the corporate boards of several energy companies, including Valero Energy Corporation and Diamond Offshore Drilling.

Bill Richardson withdrew from these boards after being nominated by the Democratic Party for governor of New Mexico, but retained considerable stock holdings in Valero and Diamond Offshore.

Bill Richardson was on the board of directors of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, which was created after the 2011 Tucson shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

Bill Richardson took office in January 2003 as the only Hispanic Governor in the United States.

In early 2005, Bill Richardson helped make New Mexico the first state in the nation to provide $400,000 in life insurance coverage for New Mexico National Guard members who serve on active duty.

In 2003, Bill Richardson backed and signed legislation creating a permit system for New Mexicans to carry concealed handguns.

Bill Richardson applied for and received a concealed weapons permit, though by his own admission he seldom carries a gun.

Bill Richardson was named Chair of the Democratic Governors Association in 2004 and announced a desire to increase the role of Democratic governors in deciding the party's future.

In December 2005, Richardson announced the intention of New Mexico to collaborate with billionaire Richard Branson to bring space tourism to the proposed Spaceport America located near Las Cruces.

In March 2006, Richardson vetoed legislation that would ban the use of eminent domain to transfer property to private developers, as allowed by the Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Kelo v City of New London.

Bill Richardson promised to work with the legislature to draft new legislation addressing the issue in the 2007 legislative session.

On September 7,2006, Bill Richardson flew to Sudan to meet President Omar Al-Bashir and successfully negotiated the release of imprisoned journalist Paul Salopek.

Bill Richardson received the highest percentage of votes in any gubernatorial election in the state's history.

In December 2006, Bill Richardson announced that he would support a ban on cockfighting in New Mexico which became law on March 12,2007.

Bill Richardson was honored with the 2009 Human Rights Award by Death Penalty Focus.

The group accused Bill Richardson of allowing political allies to benefit from firms connected to state investments, rewarding close associates with state positions or benefits, and allowing pay-to-play activity in his administration.

In December 2010, while still serving as governor, Bill Richardson returned to North Korea in an unofficial capacity at the invitation of the North's chief nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan.

Bill Richardson was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election but dropped out on January 10,2008, after lackluster showings in the first primary and caucus contests.

Bill Richardson was a rumored vice presidential candidate for Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama, and was fully vetted by the Obama campaign, before Obama chose Joe Biden on August 23,2008.

On January 4,2009, Bill Richardson withdrew his name as Commerce Secretary nominee because of the federal grand jury investigation into pay-to-play allegations.

Bill Richardson did so, and later offered her a position which she declined.

In 2011, Bill Richardson was under investigation for his role in alleged campaign finance violations.

Goldberg went on to testify that CDR was hired but that he later learned that another firm was hired by Bill Richardson to perform the actual work required and that Stewart Wolmark had given Bill Richardson a further $75,000 in contributions.

In 2019 it was revealed that Bill Richardson was among those named in court documents from a civil suit between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Bill Richardson released a statement in August 2019, saying he had offered his assistance in the investigation of Epstein to the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Bill Richardson visited North Korea several times and was involved in negotiations with the leadership there since the early 1990s.

Bill Richardson formed a foundation, the Bill Richardson Center, to help negotiate the release of political prisoners globally.

Bill Richardson called the trip a "private, humanitarian" mission by US citizens.

Bill Richardson tried unsuccessfully to speak to North Korean officials about the detention of Kenneth Bae, a US citizen accused of committing "hostile" acts against the state and sought to visit him but was only able to deliver to authorities a letter from Bae's son.

In March 2016, at the request of Ohio Governor John Kasich, Bill Richardson unsuccessfully negotiated for the release of Cincinnati college student Otto Warmbier, who had been detained on a visit to North Korea.

In November 2021, Bill Richardson undertook a mission to Myanmar, where he negotiated with military junta head Min Aung Hlaing and secured the release of US journalist Danny Fenster from an 11-year prison sentence.

Shortly before his death, Bill Richardson was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by four Democratic senators for his role in hostage diplomacy seeking the release of 15 political prisoners, including professional basketball player Brittney Griner and former US Marine Trevor Reed.

In 2011, Bill Richardson joined the boards of APCO Worldwide company Global Political Strategies as chairman, the World Resources Institute, the National Council for Science and the Environment, and Abengoa.

In 2012, Bill Richardson joined the advisory board of Grow Energy and Refugees International.

In December 2012, Bill Richardson became chairman of the Board of Directors of Car Charging Group, the largest independent owner and operator of public electric vehicle charging stations in the United States.

In 2013 Bill Richardson joined the Board of Advisors for the Fuel Freedom Foundation.

Bill Richardson died at his summer house in Chatham, Massachusetts, on September 1,2023, at age 75.