Bill Richardson, full name William Blaine Richardson III, is an American author, diplomat and politician who served as the 30th Governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He also served as a Unites States Congressman, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary.

Richardson set a Guinness World Record during his campaign for Governor for having the most handshakes in eight hours by a politician, breaking Theodore Roosevelt's record. During his time as Governor, he fostered the release of a journalist charged with espionage in Sudan amongst many other diplomatic troubleshooting issues.

After his Governorship career, he joined the boards of APCO Worldwide Company Global Political Strategies as Chairman of the board and was also appointed as a special envoy for the Organization of American States.

Currently, he is a member of Washington, D.C.-based Western Hemisphere think tank, the Inter-American Dialogue.