Eulogy for Bill Richardson

·     Bill died within hours of Jimmy Buffett (September 1-2, 2023).

·     Both peacefully.

·     All I heard for days on the news was “wasted away again in Margaritaville.”

·     I don’t dislike Jimmy Buffett.

·     How could anyone?

·     He had/has a great spirit.

·     I just didn’t get his music.

·     It always sounded a tad too simplistic - a bit like “Animal House – Key West Chapter.”

·     Party music.

·     Don’t misunderstand me.

·     I sang at a keg or two, hung around a few piano bars, forgot the words to more songs than I can remember.

·     I’m not claiming the moral high ground, Jimmy.

·     But, “It’s 5:00 somewhere”?

·     “Why Don’t We Get Drunk”?

·     Very subtle.

·     But, after all, the great Chuck Berry did “My Ding-a-Ling.”

·     What bothers me is not the music; that’s subjective.

·     It’s all the media coverage that Jimmy’s passing evoked juxtaposed with how little coverage Bill’s passing evoked.

·     All Key West and large segments of baby-boomers everywhere donned Hawaiian shirts, paraded, paying homage to the Great Parrot Head.

·     Bill’s death was back-page news.

·     Stop people randomly on the street, and ask them who Jimmy Buffet was.

·     You immediately get a lost-shaker-of-salt comment, if not multiple, garbled verses from Jimmy’s songs, songs made to be sung imperfectly, and, specifically, when drunk.

·     Ask them who Bill Richardson was.

·     They will ask you if he once played for the Dodgers.

·     We have lost a great entertainer, beloved by many.

·     We have also lost one of the greatest negotiators in history.

·     Bill Richardson was not only the Governor of New Mexico, US Ambassador to the UN, and Secretary of Energy in the Clinton Administration, he was also known as the “Champion of Americans Held Overseas” for all of his missions to rescue Americans held prisoner in hostile countries.

·     As a negotiator, no one, except perhaps Benjamin Franklin, was involved in the number of historic negotiations as Bill Richardson.

·     Fortunately for us, Bill wrote a book a few years back describing some of his most interesting war stories:

o  North Korea

o  Saddam Hussein

o  Sudan

o  Fidel Castro

o  The Congo

o  Hugo Chavez

o  Russia

·     He called the book How to Sweet-Talk a Shark (available on Amazon).

·     Bill spent a big chunk of his life going into the belly of the beast, the underground of our world, parts most dangerous to Americans, lawless.

·     Why would he do that?

·     To negotiate for the release of Americans held prisoner in those places, including, most recently, Brittney Griner. [1]

·     Or, maybe he was looking for his lost shaker of salt.

·     When I first heard that line, I thought it was like Lot and his unruly wife, “looking for his lost pillar of salt.”

·     Then, I thought, no, not “lost,” “last” shaker of salt?

·     Never mind.

·     Before I leave you, I will share one more tidbit about Bill Richardson: he had a unique negotiation style.

·     I believe I have read most, if not all, of the negotiation theory books that the Harvard Program on Negotiation has published, along with dozens of their newsletters.

·     I can attest that Bill Richardson marched to his own drummer.

·     When it came to problem-solving and diplomacy, he was the ultimate pragmatist.

·     He described his methodology succinctly in his book:

Get in.

Get on with it.

Get out.

·     Grab the loot and split!

·     “Wait a second!

·     We are not exploring win-win solutions [2]?

·     Have you really thought about your BATNA [3] and gotten to yes with yourself?”

·     “Do I have the loot?”

·     “Yes.”

·     “Negotiation over.

·     I’m gone like Jimmy Buffet on a Catamaran.

·     Next time, drinks are on me.

·     Where is my helicopter pilot?

·     Love, Bill.”

There will always be more drinking songs. 

There will never be another Bill Richardson.

[1] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-12493645/Brittney-Griner-Bill-Richardson-Russia-WNBA-penal-colony.html

[2] A Harvard concept from Getting to Yes.

[3] All familiar with the Harvard approach to negotiation recognize the holy acronym “BATNA.” Sounds a little like “YHWH,” the famous tetragrammaton from the Old Testament. Anyway, BATNA = Best Alternative to Negotiated Settlement. It’s your “Plan B.” Basically, the better your BATNA, the better your leverage. I’m just speculating, but I don’t believe that Bill Richardson spent a lot of time on his Plan Bs, but that would be an interesting topic for some eager student.