Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920 – December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and public servant 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 in protest after President Nixon's order to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox.
Born in Boston, Richardson attended Harvard University. He 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. This distinction makes him one of only two individuals to have held four Cabinet positions within the United States government (the other being George Shultz). As of 2023, he is the last Republican to serve as Massachusetts Attorney General.
Richardson was born in Boston, the son of Clara Lee (née Shattuck) and Edward Peirson Richardson, a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. He was a Boston Brahmin, descended from the earliest Puritan settlers in New England[citation needed].

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