Bill Richardson

Bill Richardson
Has withdrawn as nominee for: Secretary of commerce
Would have brought to the job: While in Congress, he served as a roving diplomatic troubleshooter for President Bill Clinton, and was later named ambassador to the United Nations in December 1996. He earned a reputation as a tough and inventive negotiator, especially when dealing with America’s most entrenched adversaries, among them Iraq, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba. In the 1990s, he negotiated the release of a downed American pilot imprisoned in North Korea, some Red Cross workers held in Sudan and two American contractors detained by Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
Is linked to Mr. Obama by:Despite intense courtship by the Clintons and having served in Mr. Clinton’s cabinet, Mr. Richardson endorsed Mr. Obama during the epic primary battle. He also helped deliver the pivotal Hispanic vote in New Mexico for Mr. Obama, which helped flip the state to Democratic from Republican and ensure a Democratic victory.
In his own words:“I choose bold. I choose action. I choose what’s right for the people. I choose to make a difference.”
Used to work as:Since 2002, he has been the popular governor of New Mexico. In the Clinton administration, he served as ambassador to the United Nations, then as energy secretary. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination this year, but withdrew after coming in fourth in the Iowa and New Hampshire nominating contests.
Carries as baggage:He said he was dropping out of consideration because of an ongoing investigation of a company that has done business with New Mexico. A federal grand jury in the state is investigating accusations that Mr. Richardson’s administration gave substantial contracts to a California financier who contributed heavily to the governor’s political action committees, The New York Times reported in December, citing a person familiar with the grand jury proceedings. Also, Mr. Richardson has no landmark achievement as a diplomat and has said, in hindsight, that he was wrong on several important issues: the first invasion of Iraq (which he opposed), the second (which he supported), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (which he helped pass). In the late 1990s, he was secretary of the Department of Energy during the disastrous security breeches at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the widely criticized prosecution of scientist Wen Ho Lee.
Also known for:By most accounts, he is the country’s most influential Latino politician. Hispanic groups are pushing hard for him to become secretary of state.
Résumé includes:Born Nov. 15, 1947, in Pasadena, Calif. ...was a major league prospect as a baseball pitcher with a wicked curve. ...graduate of Tufts, where he also earned a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. ...during the governor’s race in 2002, he made the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of hands shaken in a single day (13,392 in eight hours at the New Mexico State Fair.) ...met his wife, Barbara Flavin, while hitchhiking in the late 1960s near Boston.