Governor
Bill Richardson
Notes from Evan Smith
"If the 2008 election were solely about who has the best resume, this week’s guest would be the next president of the United States. More than fourteen years in the U.S. House. Nearly two years as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. More than two years as U.S. Secretary of Energy. Nearly five years as Governor of New Mexico. But as I noted when another White House hopeful, John Edwards, was on this show in March, experience and charisma and party orthodoxy notwithstanding, this is an uphill slog for anyone not named Clinton or Obama. And so it is that Bill Richardson finds himself, unfairly but inexorably, in the upper reaches of the second tier of an extremely talented and qualified field of Democratic candidates. In any other cycle, the 59-year-old would be considered a plausible frontrunner, especially when you consider his compelling personal story: Born in Pasadena, California to a Mexican mother and father who was a Nicaraguan-born naturalized American, Richardson was raised in Mexico City and sent to the U.S. at age 13 to attend prep school outside Boston. He majored in French and political science at Tufts University, where he famously played baseball — he was such an exceptional pitcher that he had hopes of playing in the majors — and stuck around to earn a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. After working at the State Department and for a Senate committee, he moved to Santa Fe and ran for Congress in 1978, losing narrowly. Two years later he tried again and won, and he’s been a Beltway fixture ever since — it’s a testament to his stature that, even having spent the last six years back in New Mexico, he still always seems to be in the middle of things. Which is exactly how he likes it — although he’d like to be the nation’s first Hispanic president even more." - Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 10.11.07
