The statesman who freed American hostages
Bill Richardson 1947–2023
Bill Richardson was a master at disarming his opponents. A jack-of-all-trades politician, he was a Democratic congressman, governor of New Mexico, U.N. ambassador, and energy secretary before finding a calling as a hostage negotiator, freeing Americans wrongfully detained overseas. With his relaxed demeanor in the face of the most ruthless world leaders, Richardson was nicknamed the “dictator whisperer,” and he called himself “the informal undersecretary for thugs.” While he wasn’t always successful—his biggest regret was failing to persuade the Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden to U.S. custody before 9/11—his humanitarian missions, on behalf of 80 families, led to the release of dozens of Americans in countries such as Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Cuba. Richardson surprised and charmed his negotiating adversaries with his messy appearance and everyman tastes. “I’m a regular person,” he said. “I’d rather spend time watching a baseball game. I go to the opera and leave at intermission.”
Richardson was born in California—a fact his parents took great pains to ensure, said The Times (U.K.). His father, an American of partial Mexican descent living in Mexico, wasn’t born on U.S. soil, so he had his Mexican wife fly to the U.S. to give birth “so his son’s American citizenship would never be questioned.” When Richardson was 13, he moved from Mexico to Massachusetts for boarding school, and in 1971 he earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Tufts University. But as a Latino going into politics, he felt he’d stand a better chance of getting elected in New Mexico, so he relocated there. After 14 years in the House, where he chaired the Hispanic caucus, he joined the Clinton administration before becoming New Mexico’s governor.
“One of the most prominent Latino politicians of his generation,” said The Washington Post, Richardson campaigned in both English and Spanish during his short-lived 2007 presidential bid. In 2011, he founded the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, where he practiced “quasi-public and freelance diplomacy, often with considerable success,” said The New York Times. Just last year, he was involved in the prisoner swap with Russia that freed WNBA star Brittney Griner. “I plead guilty to photo ops,” he said, “and getting human beings rescued.”