Before matriculating at Tufts, Richardson hoped to be a professional baseball player. A star pitcher, he was drafted out of high school by the Kansas City Athletics in 1967. However, Richardson's father discouraged his professional athletic pursuits, and advised him to attend college instead.
Following his father's advice, Richardson enrolled at Tufts and majored in political science. While at the University, he was president of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity in 1970, played varsity baseball, taught at the Experimental College, and received the Elias Scholarship Award in 1970.
After receiving his Master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971, Richardson set out on a career in politics. He started as a staff member for the US House of Representatives in 1972, then worked for the State Department. In 1976 he worked on the foreign relations subcommittee of the US Senate under the direction of Senator Hubert Humphrey.
Richardson first campaign was in 1980, for a seat in the House of Representatives for the Third District in New Mexico. And while he did set a short-lived world record for the most number of hands shaken in one day (8,871) on his campaign, he lost the election.
In 1982, Richardson ran again, and won. He was re-elected for several terms as congressman, and served through 1996. He was a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 1985 and in 1990, and was instrumental in helping strengthen the Clean Air Act. He also served on the Resources Committee on the National Parks, Forests and Lands, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Helsinki Commission.
In the mid-1990's Richardson worked with foreign officials to handle unique situations, such as freeing Americans imprisoned overseas and promoting foreign goals interests. He met with Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro and observed elections in Nicaragua and Guatemala. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.
In 1996, Richardson was named the US Ambassador to the United Nations. A rising star in the Democratic party, Richardson's political capital dropped a notch when the Department of Energy became embroiled in a scandal surrounding the release of nuclear secrets.
Richardson is currently running for Alumni Trustee of the University.
