Richardson Eyes

Sunday, January 21, 2007 By Leslie Linthicum Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer PART 1 Editor's note: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is exploring a run for the U.S. presidency— the first New Mexican to seek the White House. A five-part, in-depth profile developed over months by Albuquerque Journal reporters Thomas J. Cole and Leslie Linthicum will appear today and over the next four Sundays. They were two guys on a road trip, headed West in an Italian sports car. As it rolled down Interstate 40 toward Santa Fe with the top down on a spring day in 1978, the little Alfa Romeo was loaded with two 6-footers, a trunk full of luggage and a tall order of ambition. Riding shotgun and sharing the driving was Steve Cary, a 30-year-old Tufts University grad taking time off from his job as an engineer to help his fraternity buddy move out to New Mexico. His friend, Bill Richardson, had just quit his job as a Capitol Hill staffer and had asked Ca

Here is the latest installment of the Albq. Journal's profile of Richardson. I'm pretty impressed with the job they've done with this series. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sunday, February 4, 2007By Leslie LinthicumJournal Staff WriterCopyright © 2007, Albuquerque JournalEditor's note: This is Part 3 of an in-depth biography written by Journal reporters Leslie Linthicum and Thomas J. Cole, who spent months researching this project. It is appearing over five weeks in the Sunday Journal. The past four years had been remarkable, a climb to prominence a congressman from New Mexico could only have dreamed of. Bill Richardson's good fortune began in late 1996 with an early-morning phone call from President Clinton, who tapped him to serve as ambassador to the United Nations. It was a position he used to launch himself onto the international stage as a peacemaker, deal-broker and regular on the Sunday morning political week-in-re

Hey, everyone: Here's the best "profile" series I've seen of BR, currently running on Sundays in the Albuquerque Journal. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------By Thomas J. Cole Journal Investigative ReporterCopyright © 2007, Albuquerque Journal Editor's note: This is Part 2 of a five-part biography of Bill Richardson by Journal reporters Leslie Linthicum and Thomas J. Cole, who spent months researching this project. It is appearing over five weeks in the Sunday Journal. WASHINGTON— Bill Richardson was just 35 when he was sworn in as a congressman in January 1983. He had long sideburns, a mop of wavy black hair, a tremendous energy for the work ahead and an equally large ambition."He was an audacious freshman member of Congress," says Melanie Kenderdine, who worked on Richardson's congressional staff. "He was fairly disrespectful of authority, because he wanted to get things done."Richardson quickly moved to

If you're interested in Bill Richardson's rise to power, you owe it to yourself to read this profile of him which has been running in the Albuquerque Journal for the last 4 weeks (with one week remaining). --MCHigh Ambition: Richardson Eyes the White House - Part 4By Thomas J. Cole Journal Investigative ReporterCopyright © 2007, Albuquerque Journal Editor's note: This is Part 4 of an in-depth biography written by Journal reporters Leslie Linthicum and Thomas J. Cole, who spent months researching this project. It is appearing over five weeks in the Sunday Journal. SANTA FE— Twenty days after being sworn in as governor, Bill Richardson walked through the cherry-wood doors and onto the blue carpet of the House of Representatives to deliver his State of the State Address. He made his way slowly through well-wishing lawmakers and past desks decorated with flowers for the Legislature's first day of the 2003 session. "The wind was blowing strong that opening day," recalls Sen. De

Here is the last in the 5-part profile of Richardson from the Albuquerque Journal. Enjoy. - MC By Thomas J. Cole And Leslie LinthicumJournal Staff Writers; Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal Editor's Note: This is the final installment of a series profiling Gov. Bill Richardson that was researched and written by Journal reporters and appeared over five weeks in the Sunday Journal. SANTA FE— A few days after the November election in 2004, Gov. Bill Richardson and top aide Dave Contarino sat in Richardson's fourth-floor office at the Capitol and chewed over the results. The governor and Contarino had worked hard for Sen. John Kerry, hoping to deliver New Mexico's five electoral votes to the Massachusetts Democrat and help deny President Bush a second term. In the end, Kerry lost New Mexico and the election. That meant four more years of Bush but an opportunity for another Democrat to be the party's nominee for the White House in 2008. "Maybe next time it's goi