Elliot Richardson | |
|---|---|
 Richardson in 1975 | |
| 23rdUnited States Secretary of Commerce | |
| In office February 2, 1976 – January 20, 1977 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Rogers Morton |
| Succeeded by | Juanita M. Kreps |
| United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom | |
| In office March 21, 1975 – January 16, 1976 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Walter Annenberg |
| Succeeded by | Anne Armstrong |
| 69thUnited States Attorney General | |
| In office May 25, 1973 – October 20, 1973 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Deputy | Joseph Tyree Sneed III William Ruckelshaus |
| Preceded by | Richard Kleindienst |
| Succeeded by | William B. Saxbe |
| 11thUnited States Secretary of Defense | |
| In office January 30, 1973 – May 24, 1973 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Deputy | Bill Clements |
| Preceded by | Melvin Laird |
| Succeeded by | James R. Schlesinger |
| 9thUnited States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare | |
| In office June 24, 1970 – January 29, 1973 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Robert Finch |
| Succeeded by | Caspar Weinberger |
| 25thUnited States Under Secretary of State | |
| In office January 23, 1969 – June 23, 1970 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Nicholas Katzenbach |
| Succeeded by | John N. Irwin II |
| 37thAttorney General of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 18, 1967 – January 23, 1969 | |
| Governor | John A. Volpe |
| Preceded by | Edward T. Martin |
| Succeeded by | Robert H. Quinn |
| 62ndLieutenant Governor of Massachusetts | |
| In office January 7, 1965 – January 2, 1967 | |
| Governor | John A. Volpe |
| Preceded by | Francis Bellotti |
| Succeeded by | Francis Sargent |
| United States Attorney for theDistrict of Massachusetts | |
| In office 1959–1961 | |
| President | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Preceded by | Anthony Julian |
| Succeeded by | W. Arthur Garrity Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Elliot Lee Richardson (1920-07-20)July 20, 1920 Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | December 31, 1999(1999-12-31) (aged 79) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingHenry |
| Education | Harvard University (AB,LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Unit | |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920 – December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. As a member of the cabinets of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford between 1970 and 1977, Richardson is one of two men in United States history to hold four cabinet positions.[a] As United States Attorney General, Richardson played a prominent role in theWatergate scandal when heresigned in protest against President Nixon's order to fire special prosecutorArchibald Cox. His resignation precipitated a crisis of confidence in Nixon which ultimately led to the president's resignation.
Born inBoston, Richardson attendedHarvard University. After graduating, he served inWorld War II as acombat medic and participated in theinvasion of Normandy. He returned home, attendedHarvard Law School, andclerked forLearned Hand andFelix Frankfurter before beginning his legal career atRopes & Gray. Richardson began a long career in public office in 1959 when he was appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower to the position ofUnited States Attorney in the District of Massachusetts, the lead federal prosecutor in the state. Through the 1960s, he was a leading figure in theMassachusetts Republican Party and won election as the 62ndlieutenant governor in 1964 and theattorney general in 1966. As of 2025, he is the last Republican to serve as Massachusetts Attorney General.
In 1969, he joined theRichard Nixon administration asUnited States Under Secretary of State. He was promoted to a cabinet role in 1970 asSecretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, serving until January 1973, when he becameSecretary of Defense, serving briefly before he becameAttorney General in May. After his high-profile resignation from the Nixon cabinet, he returned to government in theGerald Ford administration in March 1975 asUnited States Ambassador to the United Kingdom andSecretary of Commerce from 1976 to 1977.
After the Ford administration, Richardson returned to private practice as an attorney in Washington. He advised Democratic presidentJimmy Carter on maritime law and briefly returned to politics withan unsuccessful run for United States Senate in 1984, when he lost the Republican primary toRay Shamie.
Elliot Lee Richardson was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 20, 1920. His mother was Clara Lee Richardson (née Shattuck). His father, Edward Peirson Richardson, was a physician and professor atHarvard Medical School and member of a leadingBoston Brahmin family in the city's medical community, including his father, surgeonMaurice Howe Richardson, and brother, naturalist and authorWyman Richardson.[1][2][3] In addition to his father, both of Richardson's grandfathers, three uncles, and two of his brothers were physicians at Harvard Medical andMassachusetts General Hospital.[4]
Richardson attendedthe Park School inBrookline andMilton Academy inMilton, both in Massachusetts. He then obtained hisA.B. degree in philosophy fromHarvard College, where he resided inWinthrop House, graduatedcum laude in 1941, and was an editor of theHarvard Lampoon.
In 1942, following the U.S. entry into World War II, Richardson enlisted as acombat medic in theU.S. 4th Infantry Division. He participated in the June 6, 1944,Normandy Invasion as a platoon leader, where he crossed a minefield to rescue a fellow officer whose foot was blown off.[2] He was among the first troops to come upCauseway No. 2 fromUtah Beach, which had been under fire from German artillery atBrécourt Manor. He was among the many who noticed the guns ceasing their firing after (unbeknownst to him) paratroopers of the101st under LieutenantRichard Winters had knocked them out. AfterStephen Ambrose's bookBand of Brothers was published, Richardson wrote to Winters and thanked him.
He continued to serve in the 4th Infantry Division throughout the European campaign and received theBronze Star Medal andPurple Heart withoak leaf cluster.[4] He was discharged in 1945 with the rank of first lieutenant.
Following his discharge, Richardson enrolled atHarvard Law School. In choosing law over medicine, Richardson would later reflect, "I was not sorry to pass up medicine as a career. It seemed too much like a book I had read before."[4] While at Harvard, he served as president of theHarvard Law Review.[5]
After his graduation in 1947, Richardson was a law clerk for JudgeLearned Hand on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Associate JusticeFelix Frankfurter on theSupreme Court of the United States. Following his clerkships, Richardson joined the law firm Ropes, Gray, Best, Coolidge & Rugg (nowRopes & Gray) in Boston but soon became convinced that private practice "did not match the satisfaction of doing a good job for the public."[4] In 1953, Frankfurter proposed Richardson for the presidency of Harvard when the office became open, even though Richardson was only 33 years old.[4]
While at Ropes & Gray, Richardson became active in Massachusetts Republican politics and supported the presidential campaign ofDwight D. Eisenhower. In 1953, he briefly joined the staff of United States SenatorLeverett Saltonstall before returning to private practice.[4] In 1957, Eisenhower appointed Richardson assistant secretary for legislation in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, where he worked to develop theNational Defense Education Act and Social Security legislation.[4]
In 1959, Eisenhower appointed Richardson to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He gained a reputation as a tough prosecutor with a special reputation for tax fraud cases. He later wrote, "in myInferno, tax evaders occupy a circle of their own. ... I take great satisfaction, therefore, in the fact that during my tenure as U.S. Attorney for the district of Massachusetts, every tax evader we prosecuted was convicted, and all of them went to jail." Among his highest profile convictions was that of Bernard Goldfine, a Boston textile manufacturer, for gifts to White House aideSherman Adams.[4] He remained in the role through the end of the Eisenhower administration in 1961, when he returned to Ropes & Gray as apartner.
In 1962, Richardson ran forAttorney General of Massachusetts but lost the Republican primary toEdward Brooke.[4]
After returning to the firm, Richardson left permanently in 1964 after he was elected theLieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. In 1966, he was electedAttorney General of Massachusetts to succeed Brooke. As of 2025, he is the lastRepublican to have served asAttorney General of Massachusetts.
Richardson joined the Nixon administration in 1969 as undersecretary of state.
Richardson had the distinction of serving in three high-level Executive Branch posts in a single year—the tumultuous year of 1973—as theWatergate Scandal came to dominate the attention of official Washington, and the American public at large. He is one of two persons to hold four separate cabinet positions.
In June 1970, Nixon asked Richardson to serve as secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, with the intent of reducing inefficiency and bureaucracy.[4] At HEW, Richardson sought to simplify grant processing and consolidate duplicate programs. He faced criticism from liberals for undercutting desegregation busing programs in public schools.[4] He also developed a national health care plan during his time at HEW.[6]
In September 1970, Richardson was present at the funeral of PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, where he secretly met with Nasser's successor,Anwar Sadat, to discuss U.S. involvement in peace negotiations with Israel.[7]
In 1972, Richardson established the National High Blood Pressure Education Program at the urging ofMary Lasker who came armed with copies of the Veterans Administration Cooperative Study Group on Antihypertensive Agents, directed byEdward Freis.[citation needed]
Richardson was appointedUnited States Secretary of Defense on January 30, 1973.[8] When President Nixon selected Richardson as secretary, the press described him as an excellent manager and administrator. In his confirmation hearing, Richardson expressed agreement with Nixon's policies on such issues as the adequacy of U.S. strategic forces, NATO and relationships with other allies, and Vietnam.[citation needed] His primary role as Secretary was as the administration's spokesman for the legality ofthe covert bombing of Cambodia.[4]
Although he promised to examine the budget carefully to identify areas for savings, and in fact later ordered the closure of some military installations, Richardson cautioned against precipitate reductions. As he told a Senate committee, "Significant cuts in the Defense Budget now would seriously weaken the U.S. position on international negotiations—in which U.S. military capabilities, in both real and symbolic terms, are an important factor." Similarly, he strongly supported continued military assistance at current levels. During his short tenure, Richardson spent much time testifying before congressional committees on the proposed FY 1974 budget and other Defense matters.[9]
After only three months as Secretary of Defense, Richardson became Nixon's Attorney General, a move that would put him in the Watergate spotlight.[10]
As Attorney General, Richardson supervised the investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland,George Beall, into claims that Vice PresidentSpiro Agnew accepted bribes and kickbacks as Baltimore County Executive and Governor of Maryland.[4] By the time Richardson was sworn in as Attorney General, Beall's investigation had revealed that Agnew received five percent of county and state contracts from engineer Lester Matz during his time in office. Agnew had been aware of the investigation since February and had met with Richardson's predecessor, Richard Kleindienst, to reach Beall.
On July 3, Beall informed Richardson that Agnew had continued receiving kickbacks as vice president, meaning he was no longer shielded from prosecution by thestatute of limitations. At the end of the month, White House chief of staffAlexander Haig and the President were informed, and on August 1, Beall informed Agnew's attorney that the vice president was under investigation for tax fraud and corruption.
Nixon ordered Richardson to personally take responsibility for the investigation, and he met with Agnew and his attorneys on August 6 to discuss the case. The same day, the story became public in theWall Street Journal. Just before Agnew resigned, Richardson was portrayed as a cartoon figure with Agnew and Nixon on the October 8, 1973, cover ofTime magazine.[11] Agnew was quoted, "I am innocent of the charges against me. I will not resign if indicted!"[12] He resigned as vice president on October 10.
Agnew later claimed Richardson had pressed for his prosecution for the specific reason that Richardson wished to be appointed as vice president, which would either give him the inside track for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976, or, should Nixon resign over Watergate, elevate Richardson to the presidency. Richardson denied taking any extraordinary steps to advance the investigation.[citation needed]
Richardon's primary legacy as Attorney General comes from his involvement, and eventual resignation over, the investigations into theWatergate scandal, in which White House staffers and members of the 1972 presidential campaign coordinated to break into theDemocratic National Committee headquarters on June 17, 1972. By the time Richardson took office as Attorney General on May 25, 1973, the burglars had pleaded or been found guilty and the week prior, the United States Senate had begun aseries of hearings into the matter.
On his first day in office, Richardson appointedArchibald Cox to serve as aspecial prosecutor for the federal investigation into possible ties between the Nixon administration and the break-in. Following the revelation of the existence ofrecordings of conversations within the White House, Nixon refused to comply with subpoenas by both Cox and the Senate committee. On October 20, President Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Cox as special prosecutor. Richardson had promised Congress he would not interfere with the special prosecutor, and, rather than breaking his promise, he resigned. Addressing the Justice Department attorneys, he said, "I can only say that you have here a situation in which the president, and I know nothing to call this into question, believed that the confidentiality of communications to the president was fundamentally important."[4]
President Nixon subsequently ordered Richardson's second-in-command, Deputy Attorney GeneralWilliam Ruckelshaus, to carry out the order. He too had promised not to interfere and also tendered his resignation. The third-ranking Department of Justice official,United States Solicitor GeneralRobert Bork, planned to resign after firing Cox, but Richardson persuaded him not to in order to ensure proper leadership at the Department of Justice during the crisis.[13] Bork carried out the President's order, thus completing the events generally referred to as theSaturday Night Massacre. When Bork wasunsuccessfully nominated to theSupreme Court of the United States by PresidentRonald Reagan in 1987, Richardson testified on his behalf.
In 1974, Richardson received theJohn Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually byJefferson Awards.[14] Despite the popular acclaim Richardson received for his refusal to fire Cox, he privately told friends he was deeply troubled by his decision, which conflicted with his sense of loyalty and allegiance to President Nixon. He later characterized the episode as his "brief period of notoriety."[4]
Reflecting on Watergate in his memoirs, Richardson wrote that he had attempted to persuade Nixon to take a different course before eventually refusing him. "The height of irony," Richardson wrote, "was that even a belated display of openness could have saved Nixon from the consequences of his own evasion of it. ... I said toFred Buzhardt, counsel to the president, 'You ought, instead, tell Archie Cox to send over a truck and load it up with all the material he and his staff could possibly want.' In the event, if anything damaging was found, Nixon could issue a public apology and couple it with a convincing expression of penitence. The American people, I thought, would be more than likely to forgive and forget."[4]Pat Buchanan recounted that on the day Richardson was dismissed, Nixon said, "I don't have any choice, I can't have President[Leonid] Brezhnev watch me be bullied by a member of my cabinet, I've got to fire him."[15]
During theGerald Ford administration, Richardson served asAmbassador to the United Kingdom from 1975 to 1976[16] and asUnited States Secretary of Commerce from 1976 to 1977.
Richardson's acceptance in 1975 of the appointment asAmbassador to the Court of St. James's, as it is formally titled, effectively eliminated him from the domestic scene during the pre-election-year period. In departing for that position, he indicated to reporters that he would not run for the presidency unless Ford decided against running for a term in his own right.[17]
From 1977 to 1980, he served as an Ambassador-at-Large and Special Representative of PresidentJimmy Carter for theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and head of the U.S. delegation to the ThirdUnited Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.[18]
From 1980 to 1992, Richardson was partner in the Washington office ofMilbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy.[4] In the 1980s and early 1990s, Richardson was the attorney forInslaw, Inc., an American software company which alleged that its software had been pirated by theU.S. Justice Department. In 1994, Richardson backed PresidentBill Clinton during his struggle againstPaula Jones's charge of sexual harassment. In 1998, he received thePresidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.[19]
In 1984, he ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated byPaul Tsongas. Although Richardson was favored to win the seat, he was defeated in the GOP primary by more conservative candidateRay Shamie,[20] who lost the general election toJohn Forbes Kerry.
In a 1997 interview with Geoffrey Kabaservice, Richardson argued that the Clinton administration was to the right of the Republican administrations ofRichard Nixon andDwight D. Eisenhower.[21]
Richardson's older son,Henry S. Richardson, is a professor of philosophy atGeorgetown University, where he focuses on moral and political philosophy.
Richardson was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958.[22] Richardson was also an activeFreemason as a member of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a 33rd Degree Freemason in theScottish Rite Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.[23] In 1980, Richardson received anhonorary degree fromBates College. In 1983, Richardson was admitted as an honorary member of the MassachusettsSociety of the Cincinnati.
Richardson was the author of two books.The Creative Balance: Government, Politics, and the Individual in America's Third Century was published byHolt, Rinehart and Winston in 1976.Reflections of a Radical Moderate was published byWestview Press in 1996.Reflections expresses his outlook:
I am a moderate – a radical moderate. I believe profoundly in the ultimate value of human dignity and equality. I therefore believe as well in such essential contributions to these ends as fairness, tolerance, and mutual respect. In seeking to be fair, tolerant, and respectful I need to call upon all the empathy, understanding, rationality, skepticism, balance, and objectivity I can muster.[24]
In the same book, Richardson decries "excessive government legislation", but also notes that the government is necessary to tackle serious issues.[25]
In 1972, Richardson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) degree fromWhittier College.[26] In 1974 Richardson gave the commencement address at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and received an honorary Doctors of Law.
Richardson's wife, Anne, died on July 26, 1999. On December 29, 1999, Richardson was admitted toMassachusetts General Hospital while visiting family in Boston, and died two days later of acerebral hemorrhage at the age of 79.[27][28]
PresidentBill Clinton issued a public statement hailing Richardson as "an unparalleled public servant" and "a man of uncommon integrity, who put the nation's interests first even when the personal cost was very high."[4] TheAssociated Press wrote that Mr. Richardson was "a man of immaculate attire and rare distinction, a flexibleGeorge Apley with wit ... a relentless achiever with a dazzling variety of government experience, a man of elegance and charm with spectacular mental powers, a prince of theEastern Establishment."[4]
An image of Richardson taken by photographerGarry Winogrand is featured on the cover art of rock bandInterpol's 2018 albumMarauder. Singer and guitaristPaul Banks referred to him as a hero, who "refused to be bullied into going against his personal principles".[29]
Online menswear commentatorDerek Guy uses an illustration of Richardson as his avatar, and has said that "he was one of the best-dressed men in American politics, ever."[30][31]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Francis W. Perry | Republican nominee forLieutenant Governor of Massachusetts 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forAttorney General of Massachusetts 1966 | Succeeded by Donald L. Conn |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts 1965–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Under Secretary of State 1969–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 1970–1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Defense 1973 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of Commerce 1976–1977 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Massachusetts 1967–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Attorney General 1973 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1975–1976 | Succeeded by |
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| Health, education, and welfare |   | |
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| Health and human services | ||
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