A great deal has been written on Daily Kos this past week regarding the news that Senator Hillary Clinton might be President-elect Barack Obama's top choice for Secretary of State. Most of the energy here has been spent on whether or not Sen. Clinton is the right choice, and why the President-elect might be keen on working with her in that capacity. Everyone else on the known short list has been given short shrift at best, and much of the little attention paid to others such as John Kerry and Bill Richardson has dwelt on why they would be the WRONG choice. The arguments in many cases have been based on poor or factually wrong information.
This diary will express no opinion on Senator Clinton's appropriateness for State as that matter appears to be out of our hands now. Instead, my intention is to expand the conversation and show why Bill Richardson is not only better qualified than anyone else on the short list at present, but is in fact the precise individual that President Obama needs to represent the President and the United States to the world.
Please be patient with me as I make the case, no matter how you feel. More below the fold.
Bill Richardson Background: The New Face of The US
Born in Pasadena, California, but like Obama, raised abroad in Mexico City as a child till age 13. His father, Bill Richardson Jr, was an American born in Nicaragua. His mother was born in Mexico City of parents from Chihuahua and Oaxaca, Mexico. Like Barack Obama, Bill Richardson is by birth and upbringing a man of the world, and not just "hispanic".
Bill Richardson Qualifications: A Diplomat by Training
- Already a "native" speaker of English and Spanish, Bill Richardson received his Bachelor's degree in French and Political Science from Tufts. He is instantly at home with the most powerful leader in the New Europe, French President Nicolas Sarkozy (himself the child of an immigrant, something he, Richardson and Obama share).
- Bill Richardson is the only candidate on the SoS list with a graduate qualification in diplomacy, having received his Master's degree in International Affairs from Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971. He is a trained diplomat.
Bill Richardson Experience: A Long Career at State and in Congress
- Worked for Massachussetts Republican Congressman Bradford Morse.
- Staff Member, Senate Foreigns Relations Committee.
- State Department Congressional Relations staff under Henry Kissinger.
- 14 years as Congressman representing New Mexico's 3rd District. Held 2000 town meetings in his disctrict during term as Congressman. Sponsored the most acts of any Congressman in US history on behalf of Native Americans.
- House deputy majority whip and President Clinton's ambassador at large, 1993-1997. We'll look at his accomplishments as roving ambassador and international negotiator further down in the diary.
- US Ambassador to the United Nations, 1997-1998. Accomplishments as UN ambassador under following heading.
- Secretary for Energy, 1998-2001. At Energy, Richardson was the first secretary ever to develop a nuclear waste disposal plan. Created Department of Native Affairs, a department that Obama has promised to strengthen. Established the Tribal Energy Program. Oversaw the largest return of land to Native Americans in a century. Since alternative energy was not a Clinton administration priority, Richardson probably should have been in charge of Home Affairs or at State. Richardson's period at Energy was dented when he named Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee a nuclear secrets sleuth for China. Wen was cleared and Richardson was sanctioned. However, he succeeded in reorganising Energy and closing the security hole.
- Governor of New Mexico, 2003 to present. As governor, Richardson introduced a popular middle class income tax cut, just like Obama has proposed. He was the first governor to introduce a fully funded universal health insurance plan for members of the National Guard, a plan that more than half the states in the nation have now adopted. Introduced massive state-sponsored "New Deal" type infrastructure revamp to provide jobs and boost the state's economy. Forbes named Richardson as being responsible for making Alberqueque the best city in the US for careers and business. Throughout his term, Richardson consistently made top list of the "most fiscally responsible governors" in the nation, according to the Cato Institute. Was first governor to make "sexual orientation" a civil rights category. Signed a ban on criminalizing medicinal marijuana into law. One of the nation's most accomplished governors.
- Chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Boston, that selected Illinois State Senator Barack Obama as keynote speaker. That was the speech that launched the Change movement.
- Chair, Democratic Governors Association 2005-2006
Bill Richardson's Accomplishments as United States Envoy
Most important for our consideration, however, are Bill Richardson's record of accomplishment as an ambassador and diplomat for our country, before and long after his stint as UN ambassador, and for which he was nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
As President Clinton's envoy, before appointment to UN, Richardson
- Successfully negotiated (with Deputy Asst Secretary of State Thomas Hubbard) the release of Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall, an Army pilot shot down over North Korea on December 17, 1994. Hall was released after 13 days in captivity. Richardson brought home the body of Hall's co-pilot, Officer David Hilemon.Congressman Richardson was in N. Korea as President Clinton's envoy on nuclear talks with Pyongyang.
- Successfully negotiated release of American missionary Evan Hunziker, held hostage in North Korea, November 1995.
- Successfully negotiated the release of American Aerospace workers Bill Barloon and David Daliberti, captured in Kuwait and taken hostage by Iraq in March 1996. Congressman Richardson was accompanied by his foreign policy advisor Dr. Peter Bourne
- Successfully negotiated the release of an American pilot and two Red Cross workers seized by Sudanese rebels in October 1996.
- Successfully negotiated release of political prisoners in Cuba. diplomatic missions in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Kosovo. Some with mixed results, but remember, he was just a Congressman, not yet a formal ambassador.
As US Ambassador to the United Nations, and after (to present day)
- Richardson was UN ambassador for less than a year, 1997-1998, before he was called to Energy. Though he was bogged down by the bureaucracy of the UN, during that brief period he participated in Middle-East negotiations between Isreal and the Palestinians, dealt with the issue of the US and its member dues at the UN, completed negotiations on the UN Environmental Program mandate, helped revamp US reputation in the UN under Reagan, and met Bangladeshi human rights activist Sun Kyi on behalf of the UN. It is important to remember that Richardson was not the Secretary of State, he was simply the ambassador to the UN. Here's how the New York Times described his experience at the UN.
Though numerous people called Mr. Richardson a well-prepared, focused negotiator, the administrative details that came with the United Nations job were not his strong suit.
"It wasn’t rushing off to deal with some tyrant, it was more the day-to-day work of making the U.N. a more effective place," said Edward Luck, a professor of international affairs at Columbia who was involved in the reform efforts. "I’m not sure it interested him that much."
- In the years since his short stint at the UN, Richardson fully returned to his more robust role as a roving envoy even while serving as private citizen and then, as Governor of New Mexico. In 2006 he succesfully negotiated the release of another American hostage in Sudan. Most recently, Richardson played a key role in the North Korea negotiations under the Bush administration (leading to relative success in the Pyongyang dismantling its nuclear program). Between 2005 and this year, he's met several times with North Korean delegations regarding their nuclear program. The initial meeting was at their request. He also played a role in the initial release of prisoners by Colombian rebel group FARC in February 2008, although FARC failed to release American prisoners until the Colombian government accomplished that task later this year.
What Richardson Brings to The Table as SoS
With his background, qualifications, experience and record, Bill Richardson
- Will faithfully represent President Obama and the US as a seasoned diplomat and not just someone who has met with Heads of State. Most Heads of State from the 1990s are no longer in power. It's a new world out there in search of peace, diplomacy and fresh perspectives.
- Will be perceived by our adversaries as an internationalist who, like Obama, has roots in different nations and cultures, something of an outsider who will listen and understand and use persuasion before force. To isolate and marginalize our real adversaries, we must regain the trust of our allies and open up to potential new friends. Richardson's style and expertise will best facilitate that.
- Iran will sit down more easily with Richardson than it will with some others for obvious reasons and Iran will be a big challenge for the new administration.
- Since both the Afghan government and Obama have hinted at the possibility of negotiating with agreeable elements in the Taliban, Bill Richardson, who was once involved in negotiations between Afhan militia and the Taliban, will have better chances exploring that avenue on behalf of the US.
- Richardson will have better chances gaining the trust of the Palestinians than anyone else that brings baggage to the table. It is impossible to move the Middle East peace process forward unless we gain the trust of the Palestinians and they have reason to be skeptical of certain names.
- North Korea is still a major challenge. Richardson's successful dealings with Pyongyang go back quite a while and this will be extremely useful moving forward. He is someone that the North Koreans listen to and take seriously. Again, here's the New York Times:
To understand how Mr. Richardson built and used his relationships, around the world and back home, consider the attention he has lavished on his contacts in North Korea.
Since his initial trip there, Mr. Richardson has been cultivating them, learning the names of their children and their favorite foods, playing host to them in Santa Fe. "I consider some of the North Korean people I’ve negotiated with friends," he said. "Even though we’re ideological adversaries, we trust each other. We wish each other well on the holidays."
- Not forgetting Latin America. One of the great mistakes of the outgoing administration, many now acknowledge, was to make the Latin Americans feel ignored. Yet, whether we like it or not, the Latin Americans are still our closest neighbors and some of our staunchest adversaries are down there. There's not just the Castros (whom Richardson has successfully dealt with before, having a long relationship with former Cuban ambassador and now Parliament chief Ricardo Alarcon), in the past 8 years others have emerged: Hugo Chavez (Richardson persuaded Chavez to return to the Colombian hostage negotiations after his stand-off with President Uribe), Evo Morales in Bolivia (who sees Obama and Richardson as possible working partners and without whom our anti-drug efforts down there are in shambles), Rafael Correa in Ecuador, comeback kid and former arch-enemy Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua (where Richardson's father was born), Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentinia, with whom the Bush administration already had a spat, and last but not least, Chile's socialist President and Senator Ted Kennedy friend, Michelle Bachelet. There is every reason to believe that a different regime will come into power in Mexico during the Obama presidency (given President Calderon's poor record on violent drug related-crime.) And there's the growing powerhouse, Brasil. So, we ignore Latin/South America at our own peril.
Morales has barred US anti-narcotics agents from Bolivia. Correa has ruled that agreements with Ecuado will not be renewed after they expire at the end of this year. Both Chavez and the Castros followed our elections very closely, and they have no faith in anyone too closely associated with them or who sounds like them. Yet, every single one of these Latin American regimes will sit down respectfully with Bill Richardson as the chief envoy of the United States and Obama's representative.
Conclusion
Anyone looking for cons about Richardson will find them and we've read quite a few on dKos already, but if we stay with accurate information, those cons won't be about qualification, experience, unique background for a global new world, or proven record of involvement in tough international diplomacy. There is no one on the current short list that comes close. Here's how the NYT summed up the pros and cons in 2007 and here's how Jerry 101 made the case on DKos last year.
The appointment to State is about our new approach and role in the world and how the world will receive and respond to the US and the new administration. It is not about building a team of rivals or placating constituencies. And it is not about who opposed or supported who during the primaries. But the choice is President-elect Obama's. We've come to accept his judgment even when we disagree, and I'm confident that he's listening like he promised, especially now. I've written this diary because I thought it's time to shift the focus of discussion a bit. Let me know what you think. If you believe this is worth further exploration, please recommend and thanks for reading.