Riordan, Richard

Portrait
Born: May 01, 1930 AD
Currently alive, at 78 years of age.

Nationality: American
Categories: Politician


1930 - Born in Flushing, New York on the 1st of May.

1956 - He then served in the Korean War, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan.

1985 - His successes were the first company to produce low-cost cassette tapes, as well as a $650,000 investment in Convergent Technologies which soared to $19.9 million when it was acquired by Unisys.

1980 - He formed a venture capital firm called Riordan, Lewis & Haden with a J. Christopher Lewis, a former professional tennis player, and former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Pat Haden.

1981 - Created The Riordan Foundation with the goal of enabling people to acquire the skills necessary to compete successfully in society.

1984 - Was also involved in several leveraged buyouts of supermarket chains and, most notably, toy manufacturer Mattel.

1993 - When Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley announced his retirement, his interest turned to the mayoral election.

1997 - He was reelected in a landslide against California State Senator Tom Hayden.

1999 - He backed a City Charter reform that curtailed the ability of members of the City Council to block reforms.

2001 - He was succeeded by James K. Hahn after being term-limited out of office; in fact, he enacted term limits into law while mayor.

       - He endorsed his friend and advisor Steve Soboroff in the primary and Antonio Villaraigosa in the general election.

2002 - A moderate Republican called a "Republican In Name Only" by some, decided to seek the governorship.

2005 - He endorsed Schwarzenegger, and, following his victory, served on his transition team, and was appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of Education.

       - Left the position on the 30th of June.           
      
       - He backed former State Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg in the primary and Antonio Villaraigosa in the general election. In both races, he chose not to endorse James Hahn.
Page last updated: 6:43pm, 13th Jul '07


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