Elliot Richardson

**Elliot Lee Richardson** (July 20, 1920 December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S. Attorney General, he was a known figure in the Watergate Scandal, and resigned rather than obey President Nixon's order to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

Richardson served as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1970 to 1973, Secretary of Defense from January to May 1973, Attorney General from May to October 1973, and Secretary of Commerce from 1976 to 1977. That makes him one of only two individuals to have held four Cabinet positions within the United States government (the other such individual being George Shultz).

On December 31, 1999, Richardson died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of 79.

## Other websites

- Social Security Administration Biography - Elliot L. Richardson

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **birthname**: Elliot Lee Richardson
- **image**: ElliotLeeRichardson.jpg
- **order**: 24th United States Secretary of Commerce
- **term start**: February 2, 1976
- **term end**: January 20, 1977
- **president**: Gerald Ford
- **predecessor**: Rogers Morton
- **successor**: Juanita M. Kreps
- **order1**: 22nd United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
- **term start1**: February 20, 1975
- **term end1**: February 2, 1976
- **president1**: Gerald Ford
- **predecessor1**: Walter H. Annenberg
- **successor1**: Anne Armstrong
- **order2**: 69th United States Attorney General
- **term start2**: May 25, 1973
- **term end2**: October 20, 1973
- **president2**: Richard Nixon
- **deputy2**: Joseph Tyree Sneed III
William Ruckelshaus
- **predecessor2**: Richard Kleindienst
- **successor2**: William B. Saxbe
- **order3**: 11th United States Secretary of Defense
- **term start3**: January 30, 1973
- **term end3**: May 24, 1973
- **president3**: Richard Nixon
- **deputy3**: Bill Clements
- **predecessor3**: Melvin Laird
- **successor3**: James R. Schlesinger
- **order4**: 9th United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
- **term start4**: June 24, 1970
- **term end4**: January 29, 1973
- **president4**: Richard Nixon
- **predecessor4**: Robert Finch (American politician), Robert Finch
- **successor4**: Caspar Weinberger
- **order5**: 25th Under Secretary of State
- **term start5**: January 23, 1969
- **term end5**: June 23, 1970
- **president5**: Richard Nixon
- **predecessor5**: Nicholas Katzenbach
- **successor5**: John N. Irwin II
- **order7**: 52nd Massachusetts Attorney General
- **term start7**: January 18, 1967
- **term end7**: January 23, 1969
- **governor7**: John A. Volpe
- **predecessor7**: Edward T. Martin
- **successor7**: Robert H. Quinn
- **order8**: 62nd Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts
- **term start8**: January 7, 1965
- **term end8**: January 2, 1967
- **governor8**: John A. Volpe
- **predecessor8**: Francis X. Bellotti
- **successor8**: Francis W. Sargent
- **title9**: United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts#U.S. Attorneys, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
- **term start9**: 1959
- **term end9**: 1961
- **predecessor9**: Anthony Julian
- **successor9**: Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr.
- **birth place**: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- **death place**: Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
- **party**: Republican Party (United States), Republican
- **resting place**: Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington, Virginia
- **spouse**: Anne Francis Hazard Richardson (1929–1999)
- **alma mater**: Harvard University <small>(A.B., Juris Doctor, J.D.)</small>
- **branch**: United States Army
- **serviceyears**: 1942–1945
- **rank**: First Lieutenant#United States, First Lieutenant
- **battles**: World War II
- **unit**: 4th Infantry Division (United States), 4th Infantry Division (United States Army Medical Corps, Medical Corps)
- **children**: Henry S. Richardson (philosopher), Henry S. Richardson (son)
Nancy H. Carlson (daughter)
Michael E. Richardson (son)
- **awards**: Purple Heart