Elliot Richardson | |
|---|---|
 Richardson c. 1976 | |
| 23rd United 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 |
| 69th United States Attorney General | |
| In office May 25, 1973 – October 20, 1973 | |
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Richard Kleindienst |
| Succeeded by | William B. Saxbe |
| 11th United 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 |
| 9th United 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 |
| 25th United 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 |
| 37th Attorney 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 |
| 62nd Lieutenant 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 the District 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 July 20, 1920 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | December 31, 1999 (aged 79) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Anne Francis Hazard
(m. 1952; died 1999) |
| Children | 3, including Henry |
| Education | Harvard University (AB, LLB) |
| Military service | |
| 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 the Watergate scandal when he resigned in protest against President Nixon's order to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. His resignation precipitated a crisis of confidence in Nixon which ultimately led to the president's resignation.
Born in Boston, Richardson attended Harvard University. After graduating, he served in World War II as a combat medic and participated in the invasion of Normandy. He returned home, attended Harvard Law School, and clerked for Learned Hand and Felix Frankfurter before beginning his legal career at Ropes & Gray. Richardson began a long career in public office in 1959 when he was appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower to the position of United States Attorney in the District of Massachusetts, the lead federal prosecutor in the state. Through the 1960s, he was a leading figure in the Massachusetts Republican Party and won election as the 62nd lieutenant governor in 1964 and the attorney general in 1966. As of 2023, he is the last Republican to serve as Massachusetts Attorney General.
In 1969, he joined the Richard Nixon administration as United States Under Secretary of State. He was promoted to a cabinet role in 1970 as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, serving until January 1973, when he became Secretary of Defense, serving briefly before he became Attorney General in May. After his high-profile resignation from the Nixon cabinet, he returned to government in the Gerald Ford administration in March 1975 as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Secretary of Commerce from 1976 to 1977.
After the Ford administration, Richardson returned to private practice as an attorney in Washington. He advised Democratic president Jimmy Carter on maritime law and briefly returned to politics with an unsuccessful run for United States Senate in 1984, when he lost the Republican primary to Ray Shamie.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).