Bill Richardson Bio, Age, Family, Years In Office, Korea, And Net Worth

Bill Richardson Biography

Bill Richardson born William Blaine Richardson III is an American politician, author, and diplomat who served from 2003 to 2011 as the 30th governor of New Mexico. He was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary in the Clinton administration. He also served as a U.S. Congressman, executive of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and administrator of the Democratic Governors Association.

In 2008, he was nominated for the cabinet-level position of Secretary of Commerce in the first Obama administration but pulled back a month later as he was examined for conceivable inappropriate professional interactions in New Mexico. Also, he occasionally troubleshoots diplomatic issues with North Korea.

Bill Richardson Career

Previous Offices

After college, he worked for Republican Congressman F. Bradford Morse from Massachusetts. At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he was a staff member. He worked on congressional relations for the Henry Kissinger State Department during the Nixon administration.

In 1978, he moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 1980, he ran for the House of Representatives as a Democrat, losing narrowly to long-term first District agent and future United States Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan(R). Two years later, he was elected to New Mexico’s newly created third district, taking in most of the northern part of the state. He spent 14 years in Congress, representing the country’s most diverse district and holding 2,000 town meetings.

Richardson supported various bills, including the American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments, the Indian Dams Safety Act, the Tribal Self-Governance Act, and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act.

He was awarded the Aztec Eagle Award, Mexico’s highest award for a foreigner, for his work as a backchannel to Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexico’s president at the time of the negotiations. He traveled to Baghdad to secure the release of two American aerospace workers who had been captured by the Iraqis after wandering over the Kuwaiti border. He had accompanied Peter Bourne and engaged in lengthy one-on-one negotiations with Saddam Hussein.

In 1996, he assumed a significant job in verifying the arrival of American Evan Hunziker from North Korean custody and for verifying an exoneration for Eliadah McCord, an American sentenced and detained in Bangladesh. Due to these missions, He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.

Bill Richardson Ambassador to the United Nations

Between 1997 and 1998, he was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  During this time, he flew to Afghanistan and met with the Taliban and with Abdul Rachid Dostum, an Uzbek warlord, but the ceasefire he believed he had consulted with the assistance of Bruce Riedel of the National Security Council failed to hold.

U.S. Secretary of Energy

On July 31, 1998, the Senate confirmed Richardson to be Clinton’s Secretary of Energy.  His term at the Department of Energy was ruined by the Wen Ho Lee nuclear controversy. He named Lee, an employee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, as a suspect who might have given nuclear secrets to the Chinese government. Lee was later found not guilty and won a settlement against the government for the allegation.

He was also criticized by the 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. In response to this, he said that he was waiting to uncover more information before speaking to Congress. The scandal and criticism ended Richardson’s hope of being named as Al Gore’s running mate for the 2000 presidential election.

Following the scandal, he tightened security and became the first Energy Secretary to implement a plan to dispose of nuclear waste. In 1998, he created the Director for Native American Affairs position in the Department. In January 2000, he managed the largest return of federal lands, 84,000 acres (340 km²), to an Indian Tribe (the Northern Ute Tribe of Utah) in more than 100 years.

Post-gubernatorial career

In 2011, he 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(international advisory board). He was likewise selected as an extraordinary emissary for the Organization of American States.

In 2012, he joined the advisory board of Grow Energy and Refugees International. He is additionally an individual from Washington, D.C.- based Western Hemisphere think tank, the Inter-American Dialog.

Allegations of corruption

The former CDR employee Doug Goldberg testified that he was involved in giving Richardson campaign contributions amounting to $100,000 in exchange for his company CDR being hired to handle a $400 million swap deal for the New Mexico state government. This was during the 2012 trial United States of America v. Carollo, Goldberg, and Grimm.

Bill Richardson North Korea

He has had an interest in North Korea. He visited a number of times and since the early 1990s, he has been involved in negotiations with the leadership there. He accompanied U.S. State Department officials in 1996, and successfully negotiated the release of Evan Hunziker, the first American civilian to be arrested by North Korea on espionage charges since the end of the Korean War.

He formed a foundation, the Richardson Center, to help negotiate the release of political prisoners globally. In January 2013, he also led a delegation of business leaders, including Google chairman Eric Schmidt, shortly after the state had launched an orbital rocket

In March 2016, he attempted to negotiate for the release of Cincinnati college student Otto Warmbier, who had been detained on a visit to North Korea. This was at the request of Ohio Governor John Kasich.

Electric vehicle charging stations

In December 2012, he 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 He joined the Board of Advisors for the Fuel Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit campaign that advocates for the end of the oil monopoly.

Bill Richardson Age

Bill Richardson Family

Richardson was born in Pasadena, California, on November 15, 1947. He was born to William Blaine Richardson, Jr. (1891-1972), who was of Anglo-American and Mexican descent and was an American Citibank executive. His mother, María Luisa López-Collada Márquez (1914-2011), was the Mexican-born daughter of a Spanish father from Villaviciosa, Asturias, and a Mexican mother. He is a descendant of William Brewster, a passenger on the Mayflower.

At the age of 13, his parents sent him to Massachusetts where he attended a preparatory school, Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1966, he entered Tufts University where he continued to play baseball. In 1967, he threw in the amateur Cape Cod Baseball League for the Cotuit Kettleers in Cotuit, Massachusetts.

His original biographies stated he had been drafted by the Kansas City Athletics and the Chicago Cubs to play professional baseball, but it was discovered, he never was on any official draft by a 2005 Albuquerque Journal investigation. He later acknowledged the error, saying he had been scouted by several teams and told that he “would or could” be drafted, but was mistaken in saying that he actually had been drafted.

In 1970, he earned a Bachelor’s degree at Tufts University, majoring in French and political science, and was a member and president of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. In 1971, he earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Bill Richardson Wife

He is a married man. He met his future wife, Barbara Flavin when they were in high school in Concord, Massachusetts. Following her graduation from Wheaton College, they tied the knot in 1972.

Bill Richardson Body Measurements

Height: Not Available

Weight: Not Available

Shoe Size: Not Available

Body Shape: Not Available

Hair Colour: Black

Bill Richardson Net Worth

Bill Richardson has been an American politician, author, and diplomat and those have been the sources of his wealth. His net worth has grown significantly in these past years as is estimated to be around $7 million.

Bill Richardson Books

He has authored a number of books and articles such as:

Books

• Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life, an autobiography, published March 2005 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, written with Michael Ruby ISBN 0399153241
• Leading by Example: How We Can Inspire an Energy and Security Revolution, released October 2007
• How to Sweet-Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator, published October 15, 2013, by Rodale Books, written with Kevin Bleyer.

Articles

• Universal Transparency: A Goal for the U.S. at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, published January 2011, Arms Control Today; Bill Richardson with Gay Dillingham, Charles Streeper, and Arjun Makhijani
• Sweeping Up Dirty Bombs, published Fall 2011, Federation of American Scientists; Bill Richardson, Charles Streeper, and Margarita Sevcik.

Bill Richardson Retirement

He is retired but still remains active in law enforcement consulting activities.

Frequently Asked Questions About Bill Richardson

Who is Bill Richardson?

Richardson is an American politician, author, and diplomat.

How old is Bill Richardson?

William Blaine Richardson III was born in Pasadena, California, U.S. on November 15, 1947. He is 72 years as of 2019.

How tall is Bill Richardson?

His height is still under review.

Is Bill Richardson married?

He is happily married to Barbara Flavin.

How much is Bill Richardson worth?

His nat worth is estimated to be around $7 million.

How much does Bill Richardson make?

His annual estimated salary is still under review.

Where does Richardson live?

His current residence is still under review.

Is Bill Richardson dead or alive?

Richardson is still alive and in good health.

Where is Bill now?

Afer his retirement, his whereabouts are not known.

Bill Richardson Twitter

Tweets by GovRichardson

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