On Friday, Bill Richardson, 75, the former Democratic governor of New Mexico and ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration, died suddenly.
For a brief time, owing to name confusion, my books sold weirdly well in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and such. Eventually, readers caught on. RIP BR. pic.twitter.com/KVvEwbaQui
— billrichardsonwriter (@billric36028987) September 2, 2023
The former Energy Secretary reportedly passed away in his sleep at his vacation home in Massachusetts, as reported by the Richardson Center for Global Engagement.
“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,” Vice President of the Richardson Center Mickey Bergman said in a statement. “There was no person that Governor Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom.”
In his own words, “The world has lost a champion for those held unjustly abroad and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend.”
Who is Bill Richardson’s Wife?
In 1972, Bill Richardson wed Barbara Flavin. Richardson leaves behind his wife Barbara and their children. ’47 Pasadena, California birth certificate. Richardson’s father was a bank executive, therefore the family moved often during his childhood in Mexico City.
His parents enrolled him in a Massachusetts prep school when he was 13 years old, and he went on to get a degree from Tufts University. Richardson also served 14 years in Congress, representing New Mexico’s 3rd District, before becoming governor for a total of two terms. He rose fast through the ranks of Congress, eventually becoming the Deputy Majority Whip.
Bill Richardson Career
He worked closely with President Bill Clinton, and as a result, he was dispatched on multiple foreign policy trips and was instrumental in getting NAFTA passed. He aided in the rescue of numerous hostages and freed many political prisoners in Iraq, North Korea, and Bangladesh. As a result of his efforts, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.
After serving in Congress since 1993, Richardson left to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1997. After serving as Vice President for a year, Clinton promoted Richardson to the position of Energy Secretary in 1998.
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However, the incident involving physicist Wen Ho Lee, whom Richardson and other Energy Department employees accused of stealing nuclear-related materials, cast a shadow over Richardson’s time as Energy Secretary.
The prosecution was unable to establish its espionage case against Lee, so he was freed with time served after almost a year of solitary incarceration without bail. A public apology from Clinton and the ensuing controversy effectively destroyed any chance of Richardson being chosen as Al Gore’s running mate in the 2000 presidential election.
Richardson taught at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West after Clinton’s presidency ended. In addition to his time on the board of directors of Peregrine Systems, he also ran for governor of New Mexico.
Richardson, who was elected with a landslide in 2002, was the first and only Hispanic governor in the United States. In 2004, he assumed the role of chairman for the Democratic Governors Association. In 2006, he was re-elected with the greatest margin of victory in New Mexico’s electoral history, 36 points.
In early 2007, the popular governor formally announced his candidacy for president in 2008. However, he quit the race after placing a disappointing fourth in both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries.
Richardson established the Richardson Center for Global Engagement after his second term as governor and failed presidential run. He also kept up his diplomatic efforts, traveling on private trips to North Korea and Myanmar to secure the release of hostages and inmates.
Former US Marine Paul Whelan and WNBA star Brittney Griner were also freed after Richardson negotiated their releases in Moscow last year.
“On behalf of the countless families that Governor Richardson and his Center have helped, I wanted to express our profound feeling of loss at his passing,” chair of the Bring Our Families Home Campaign Neda Sharghi said in a statement Saturday. “Governor Richardson has been a fierce advocate for human rights and the effort to bring home people unjustly held overseas.”
🚨 BREAK/ Statement by @BOFHcampaign Chair @NedaSharghi on the passing of Governor Bill Richardson: pic.twitter.com/lCHkdRhD6r
— Jonathan Franks (@jonfranks) September 2, 2023
Similarly, Virginia Roberts Giuffre included Richardson as a defendant in her civil complaint alleging that the late millionaire Jeffrey Epstein and socialite Ghislaine Maxwell sexually trafficked her. While Richardson isn’t specifically mentioned in the lawsuit, Giuffre claims that Epstein coerced her into having sex with him and other influential men, according to a deposition that was released in 2019. Neither the lawsuit nor the criminal charges included Richardson.
They were “completely false,” according to a representative for Richardson at the time, who also said that the former president had never met Giuffre or visited Epstein’s home in the Virgin Islands. After offering his help in the Epstein probe, Richardson’s lawyer claimed he was assured by the U.S. attorney’s office that his client was not a suspect.
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