Former Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson '41 said yesterday he will not run for president but added "If I had a clear shot at it, I would take it."

His candidacy as a favorite son "would only be potentially valuable in unifying a delegation and enabling it to have greater influence at the convention," he said. Too many candidates have already decided to enter the Massachusetts primary, he added.

Richardson said his commitment as ambassador to the International Law of the Sea conference would not leave him enough time this winter for pre-convention activities. He said he may run for Kennedy's Senate seat in 1982 if Kennedy is elected president.

Ronald Reagan, conservative former governor of California, has the best chance of winning the Republican nomination, "unless something happens to cause him to lose his strength," Richardson said. Reagan's chances of defeating Carter are better than Kennedy's, he added.

For Women Only

Richardson spoke at a new conference at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston where he was principal speaker at a luncheon for Republican women.

Richardson, who has held four cabinet posts, resigned as Attorney General in 1973 rather than carry out former President Richard M. Nixon's order to fire Archibald Cox '34. Loeb University Professor and the first Watergate special prosecuter.