Bill Richardson, Democratic governor of New Mexico for two terms and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who dedicated his career after leaving politics to work to free Americans detained abroad, died Saturday at age 75 while sleeping at his home in Chatham (Massachusetts), according to a statement from the Richardson Center for Global Engagement. which he founded and directed.
Richardson was the country's only Hispanic governor during his two terms. He described it as "the best job I've ever had."
Bill Richardson.Alberto E. Rodriguez. / Getty Images
Prior to his election as governor in 2002, Richardson was U.S. ambassador to the UN and secretary of energy under Democrat Bill Clinton; He served 14 years as a congressman from New Mexico. Richardson also traveled around the world as a diplomatic negotiator without official powers, intervening in the release of American hostages in North Korea, Iraq, Cuba and Sudan.
Richardson negotiated with U.S. adversaries, including Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, a role he enjoyed: He once described himself as "the informal undersecretary for thugs."
"He lived his entire life in service to others, including his time in government and his later career helping to free hostages or people wrongfully detained overseas," said Mickey Bergman, vice president of the Richardson Center. "There wasn't a single person I wouldn't talk to if I had a promise to free a person again. The world has lost an advocate for the wrongfully detained abroad and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend," Bergman added.
Armed with an extraordinary resume and a wealth of experience in domestic and international politics, Richardson ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008 in hopes of becoming the nation's first Hispanic president. He dropped out of the race after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
As governor, Richardson signed a law in 2009 that repealed the death penalty. He called it "the most difficult decision of my political life" because he had previously supported capital punishment.
Other accomplishments as governor included minimum wages of $50,000 a year for New Mexico's most qualified teachers; an increase in the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.50 an hour; preschool programs for 4-year-olds; renewable energy requirements in utilities; and funding for major infrastructure projects, including a spaceport in southern New Mexico and a commuter rail network.
Richardson continued his independent diplomacy even while serving as governor. He had barely begun his first term when he met with two North Korean envoys in Santa Fe. He traveled to North Korea in 2007 to recover the remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War. In 2006, he persuaded then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to release American journalist Paul Salopek.