Bill Richardson, a two-term Democratic governor of New Mexico and an American ambassador to the United Nations who additionally labored for years to safe the discharge of Americans detained by international adversaries, has died. He was 75.
The Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which he based and led, mentioned in an announcement Saturday that he died in his sleep at his house in Chatham, Massachusetts.
“He lived his entire life in the service of others — including both his time in government and his subsequent career helping to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad,” mentioned Mickey Bergman, the middle’s vp. “There was no person that Gov. Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom. The world has lost a champion for those held unjustly abroad and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend.”
Before his election in 2002 as governor, Richardson was the U.S. envoy to the United Nations and vitality secretary beneath President Bill Clinton and served 14 years as a congressman representing northern New Mexico.
But he additionally cast an identification as an unofficial diplomatic troubleshooter. He traveled the globe negotiating the discharge of hostages and American servicemen from North Korea, Iraq, Cuba and Sudan and bargained with a who’s who of America’s adversaries, together with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. It was a task that Richardson relished, as soon as describing himself as “the informal undersecretary for thugs.”
“I plead guilty to photo-ops and getting human beings rescued and improving the lives of human beings,” he as soon as instructed reporters.
He helped safe the 2021 launch of American journalist Danny Fenster from a Myanmar jail and this yr negotiated the liberty of Taylor Dudley, who crossed the border from Poland into Russia. He flew to Moscow for a gathering with Russian authorities officers within the months earlier than the discharge final yr of Marine veteran Trevor Reed in a prisoner swap and in addition labored on the circumstances of Brittney Griner, the WNBA star freed by Moscow final yr, and Michael White, a Navy veteran freed by Iran in 2020.
Armed with a golden resume and wealth of expertise in international and home affairs, Richardson ran for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president in hopes of changing into the nation’s first Hispanic president. He dropped out of the race after fourth place finishes within the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire main.
Richardson was the nation’s solely Hispanic governor throughout his two phrases. He described being governor as “the best job I ever had.”
“It’s the most fun. You can get the most done. You set the agenda,” Richardson mentioned.
As governor, Richardson signed laws in 2009 that repealed the loss of life penalty. He known as it the “most difficult decision in my political life” as a result of he beforehand had supported capital punishment.
Other accomplishments as governor included $50,000-a-year minimal salaries for essentially the most certified academics in New Mexico, a rise within the state minimal wage from $5.15 to $7.50 an hour, pre-kindergarten applications for 4-year-olds, renewable vitality necessities for utilities and financing for big infrastructure tasks, together with a business spaceport in southern New Mexico and a $400 million commuter rail system.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., known as Richardson a “giant in public service and government.”
“In his post-government career, he was trusted to handle some of the most sensitive diplomatic crises, and he did so with great success. Here in New Mexico, we will always remember him as our governor. He never stopped fighting for the state he called home,” Lujan mentioned in an announcement.
Some of his most outstanding world work started in December 1994, when he was visiting North Korean nuclear websites and phrase got here that an American helicopter pilot had been downed and his co-pilot killed.
The Clinton White House enlisted Richardson’s assist and, after days of powerful negotiations, the then-congressman accompanied the stays of Chief Warrant Officer David Hilemon whereas paving the way in which for Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall to return house.
The following yr, and after a private attraction from Richardson, Saddam Hussein freed two Americans who had been imprisoned for 4 months, charged with illegally crossing into Iraq from Kuwait.
Richardson continued his freelance diplomacy even whereas serving as governor. He had barely began his first time period as governor when he met with two North Korean envoys in Santa Fe. He traveled to North Korea in 2007 to get better stays of American servicemen killed within the Korean War.
In 2006, he persuaded Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to free Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Paul Salopek.
Richardson reworked the political panorama in New Mexico. He raised and spent report quantities on his campaigns. He introduced Washington-style politics to an easygoing western state with a part-time Legislature.
Lawmakers, each Republicans and Democrats, complained that Richardson threatened retribution towards those that opposed him. Former Democratic state Sen. Tim Jennings of Roswell as soon as mentioned Richardson was “beating people over the head” in his dealings with lobbyists on a well being care concern. Richardson dismissed criticisms of his administrative fashion.
“Admittedly, I am aggressive. I use the bully pulpit of the governorship,” Richardson mentioned. “But I don’t threaten retribution. They say I am a vindictive person. I just don’t believe that.”
Longtime pals and supporters attributed Richardson’s success partly to his relentlessness. Bob Gallagher, who headed the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, mentioned if Richardson wished one thing completed then “expect him to have a shotgun at the end of the hallway. Or a ramrod.”
After dropping out of the 2008 presidential race, Richardson endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. That occurred regardless of a long-standing friendship with the Clintons.
Obama later nominated Richardson as secretary of commerce, however Richardson withdrew in early 2009 due to a federal investigation into an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving his administration in New Mexico.
Months later, the federal investigation ended with no fees towards Richardson and his former high aides. Richardson had a troubled tenure as vitality secretary due to a scandal over lacking pc gear with nuclear weapons secrets and techniques at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the federal government’s investigation and prosecution of former nuclear weapons scientist Wen Ho Lee.
Richardson permitted Lee’s firing at Los Alamos in 1999. Lee spent 9 months in solitary confinement, charged with 59 counts of mishandling delicate data. Lee later pleaded responsible to 1 rely of mishandling pc information and was launched with the apology of a federal choose.
William Blaine Richardson was born in Pasadena, California, however grew up in Mexico City with a Mexican mom and an American father who was a U.S. financial institution govt.
He attended prep faculty in Massachusetts and was a star baseball participant. He later went to Tufts University and its graduate faculty in worldwide relations, incomes a grasp’s diploma in worldwide affairs.
Richardson moved to New Mexico in 1978 after working as a Capitol Hill staffer. He wished to run for political workplace and mentioned New Mexico, with its Hispanic roots, appeared like a very good place. He campaigned for Congress simply two years later — his solely dropping race.
In 1982, he gained a brand new congressional seat from northern New Mexico that the state picked up in reapportionment. He resigned from Congress in 1997 to hitch the Clinton administration as U.N. ambassador and have become secretary of vitality in 1998, holding the submit till the tip of the Clinton presidency.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”