serviceyears branch predecessor successor religion children president unit |awards battles rank term_start order birthname image article_title term_end alma_mater
1942 -- 1945 united states army rogers morton walter h. annenberg richard kleindienst juanita m. kreps anne armstrong william b. saxbe unitarian henry s. richardson -lrb- son -rrb- gerald ford gerald ford richard nixon 4th infantry division -lrb- medical corps -rrb- purple heart world war ii first lieutenant february 25 , 1973 2 , 1976 february 20 , 1975 may 24th ambassador to the united kingdom 69th united states attorney general united states secretary of commerce 22nd united states elliot lee richardson elliotleerichardson.jpg elliot richardson
 january 20 , 1973 20 , 1977 february 2 , 1976 october harvard university
elliot richardson

elliot lee richardson -lrb- july 20 , 1920 december 31 , 1999 -rrb- was an american lawyer and politician who was a member of the cabinet of presidents richard nixon and gerald ford .
as u.s. attorney general , he was a prominent 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 -lrb- the other such individual being george shultz -rrb- .
