On a windy day on Cape Cod, a middle-aged man, well-known for his other accomplishments, decided he would add windsurfing to his list of skills. As his family and a few spectators looked on, not expecting much from this novice windsurfer, Elliot L. Richardson '41 stepped on the board, grabbed the wishbone and skillfully coasted away from the shore.

But he never windsurfed again. "He wasn't interested in doing it more than once," says his son, Henry S. Richardson '77. "It was just an example of his tremendous power of will."

Since he graduated from Harvard College, Elliot Richardson, this year's Harvard Law School (HLS) Class Day speaker, has used his trademark willpower as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts; U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare; Secretary of Defense; Attorney General of Massachusetts and later the United States; ambassador to various countries; and, on and off, as an associate or a partner in Boston and Washington law firms.

But even with such a long list of accomplishments, Richardson retains an air of humility.

"I have sometimes referred to myself as occupying four of the world's most vilified professions--I was or am a politician, a bureaucrat, a lawyer and a diplomat," Richardson says, chuckling.

But his colleagues and family say Richardson is hardly a villain.

Saturday Night Resignation

When Richardson speaks at the Law School's Class Day exercises today, it will be roughly 25 years since he resigned from his post as attorney general rather than carry out former President Richard M. Nixon's orders to fire Archibald Cox '34, the Watergate special prosecutor.

Richardson's resignation spurred his deputy, who also refused to fire Cox, to resign as well. Nixon was able to convince Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire the special prosecutor, but the series of event, which have since been labeled the "Saturday Night Massacre," increased the pressure on Nixon to resign.

Despite the weight of his decision, Richardson downplays it, saying he did not hesitate to act.

"It was a very clear-cut issue," he says. "When I got the order, I knew that I would resign."

"When the chief of staff under Nixon called me right after Cox's press conference, all I said was `Al, when can I see the president?' He knew what I meant."

For those who knew Richardson at the time, his stance was not surprising. "I don't think I ever thought that he would [not resign]," Cox says. "The president had a right to have an attorney general who would conform to his instructions; the straight, honest, responsible thing to do was to resign."

"His role in the Saturday Night Massacre was enormously important; people give me a lot of credit, but he deserves an awful lot of credit too," Cox adds.

Richardson's son, who was away rock-climbing that weekend, had a tumultuous homecoming that Monday.