Obama's White House

Bill Richardson, Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Commerce, is a man of the West: a gregarious, horseback-riding schmoozer who enjoys cigars and boxing. But the New Mexico governor is also perhaps the country's pre-eminent Latino politician, a Washington veteran who knows his way around the Capitol. Though few question Richardson's political gifts, his nomination is also a gesture of loyalty: Richardson was a key Obama supporter, whose endorsement helped spur the exodus of former Clinton backers to the President-elect's corner.

Fast Facts:

• Born in Pasadena, Calif., but grew up in Mexico City, where his father was a prominent banker

• Earned a B.A. in 1970 from Tufts University, where he stayed on to earn a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

• Married to his wife Barbara for 36 years

• After losing a congressional bid in 1980, Richardson was elected to serve New Mexico's Third District two years later. He stayed there until President Bill Clinton appointed him U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in 1996.

• In 1998 he became Energy Secretary. His tenure at the helm of the department was marred by his role in the botched investigation of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee, who was paid a $1.6 million settlement by the government and five media organizations after officials leaked information that portrayed Lee as a possible spy

• In 1998, as the Monica Lewinsky scandal was unfurling, he offered Lewinsky a job at the U.N. as a favor to Clinton Administration staffer — and Obama transition-team co-chair — John Podesta

• Developed a reputation as a coolheaded troubleshooter in global hot spots, negotiating hostage situations in North Korea, Sudan and Iraq

• Elected governor of New Mexico in 2002. Four years later, he won a landslide victory in his re-election campaign, notching 69% of the vote

• He's a glad-hander in the truest sense of the word, working campaign rope lines exhaustively. During his first congressional foray, he earned a Guinness World Record for shaking the most hands in a single day (nearly 9,000). Since then, he's obliterated his own mark by shaking 13,392 hands in eight hours during his 1992 gubernatorial race

• As a youngster, Richardson had a nasty curveball that made him a promising prospect for the big leagues, and for years it was reported as a fact — including in his White Hosue bio — that he was drafted by the Kansas City A's. In 2005, after an investigation by the Albuquerque Journal, Richardson revealed this was inaccurate, though he denied knowingly perpetuating a lie.

Quotes from Richardson:

• "Boosting commerce between states and nations is not just a path to solvency and growth; it's the only path."
(Dec. 3, during his appearance with Obama)

• "I love the mixing of politics. I love to campaign. I love parades. I don't believe I'm pretentious. I'm very earthy."
(Washington Post, Sept. 14, 2003)

• "As Barbara recalls it, I said to her father, 'Where's my dowry?' and her father said, 'You ate it. I've been feeding you for seven years.'"
(On asking his wife's father for her hand in marriage, from his 2005 book, Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life)

• "I've been in hostage negotiations that are a lot more civil than this."
(During a debate three days before the New Hampshire primary in January 2008)

Quotes about Richardson:

• "It was a mistake for him to get rid of it. I think that whole Western, rugged look was really working for him."
—Obama, chiding the former governor during their joint appearance for shaving his trademark facial hair

• "He wasn't an Andy Young, he wasn't a Richard Holbrooke, and he wasn't a Tom Pickering. But he was a great Bill Richardson. He was so astonishingly friendly. Very often, countries heed the positions of the U.S. ambassadors because they feel they have no choice. So it's that much more palatable if those policies are put forward in an agreeable way by a bonhomous U.S. ambassador."
—Shashi Tharoor, former under-secretary general at the U.N., on Richardson's appeal as an ambassador (New York Times, May 9, 2004)

• "Richardson's career, in short, testifies to the power of the schmooze. Unlike Clinton, he doesn't marry schmoozing to wonkery. He is weak on policy, often skipping complicated discussions for a cigar and a party. He has no great beliefs, which may be why he didn't mind flattering despots. In Richardson's world, personal relationships may trump principles, and friendships may supersede treaties."
(Slate, June 23, 2000)

• "In the United States today, only Bill Clinton is a better natural politician." (Slate, June 23, 2000)

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