Bill Richardson, the man many will know as the face of the diplomatic effort to free Brittney Griner from Russian detention, has died at his home in Massachusetts at the age of 75. Richardson was a congressman, cabinet secretary, UN ambassador, and two-term governor across a long and storied career in American politics.
“He lived his entire life in the service of others — including both his time in government and his subsequent career helping to free people held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. There was no person that Gov. Richardson would not speak with if it held the promise of returning a person to freedom. The world has lost a champion for those held unjustly abroad, and I have lost a mentor and a dear friend,” said Mickey Bergman. Bergman is the Vice President of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, which Richardson founded and led.
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Political World Mourns Bill Richardson
After retiring from mainstream politics in 2011 after two terms as Governor of New Mexico, Richardson became a renowned political troubleshooter. Whether the public knew it or not, Richardson was a central figure in many of the efforts to free American citizens imprisoned abroad. However, it was a role Richardson cherished, once referring to himself as “the unofficial undersecretary for thugs.” He also ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, hoping to become the nation’s first Hispanic president. However, he dropped out after fourth-place finishes in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.
While well-known to political junkies, Richardson hit a new level of public-facing attention in 2022. He became one of the central public-facing figures in the effort to free Brittney Griner from Russian detention. Richardson and Bergman made multiple trips to Russia and Eastern Europe to speak with their Russian contacts in hopes of bringing Griner home. They eventually managed to do so after the WNBA star spent nine months in a Russian prison. Richardson is reported to have died peacefully at home.
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