Elliot Lee Richardson | Biography

Elliot Lee Richardson served as U.S. attorney general for less than six months in 1973 under President Nixon. Richardson resigned in October 1973 after Nixon demanded that he fire the special prosecutor who was uncovering evidence of the president's role in the Watergate scandal. Richardson spent much of his life in public service, both at the state and federal level.

Richardson was born on July 20, 1920 in Boston Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard University in 1941 and serving in the Army during World War II, Richardson attended law school at Harvard. Following his 1947 graduation he clerked for two prominent federal judges, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. After his clerkships he practiced law in Boston but by the early 1950s Richardson's course was set for public service.

During the 1950s Richardson worked in a succession of government positions. After serving as a staff person in Congress, Richardson was an assistant secretary of health, education and welfare, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts and a special assistant attorney general. These positions raised his public profile and by the early 1960s Richardson shifted his sights to elective office. After being elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1964 and attorney general in 1966, Richardson was poised to run for governor or the U.S. senate. However, he abandoned these goals when he agreed to join the Nixon administration in 1969.

Richard Nixon first appointed Richardson undersecretary of state and the following year he appointed him secretary of health, education and welfare. After Nixon's landslide 1972 reelection he shifted Richardson to secretary of defense. Almost before Richardson could settle in, however, Nixon appointed him U.S. attorney general in May 1973.

Richardson became attorney general as scrutiny about White House involvement in the Watergate scandal intensified in the press and in Congress. Nixon adamantly maintained his innocence and pledged that is administration would investigate the matter. Congress met the appointment of Richardson with warm approval, in part because of his sterling reputation and in part because Nixon had given him assurances that the White House would not interfere with the investigation. However, the White House became increasingly uncomfortable with Richardson's independent actions. His appointment of Archibald Cox, who was a close friend, signaled more trouble for Nixon, as Cox sought access to White House tapes of conversations Nixon had with his aides.

When Nixon refused to hand over the tapes, Cox went into federal court and demanded them. The lower courts upheld Cox's right to obtain the tapes and when Nixon proposed Cox settle for summaries of their contents, he refused. This was the last straw for Nixon. On Saturday, October 20, Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson, who had given his word to Cox that he would not intervene in the investigation, immediately resigned. Though Cox was fired by Richardson's temporary successor, solicitor general Robert Bork, the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre," severely damages Nixon's credibility.

Richardson emerged from the firing a national hero, celebrated for upholding his personal honor. In 1975 President Gerald Ford named Richardson ambassador to Great Britain and in 1977 named him ambassador at large. From 1980 to 1992, Richardson practiced law in Washington, D.C. He died on December 31, 1999 in Boston.