The first in a five-part, series profiling Richardson from his childhood in Mexico to his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is exploring a run for the U.S. presidency -- the first New Mexican to seek the White House. A five-part, indepth profile developed over months by Albuquerque Journal reporters Thomas J. Cole and Leslie Linthicum began in the Sunday Journal on Jan. 21, 2007. It will continue with installments the following four Sundays.

Be sure to pick up a Sunday Journal for the full picture of Bill RIchardson's High Ambition. 

Call it the Bill Richardson presidential machine. Richardson is officially putting it in gear with the filing of paperwork to start seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

    Here are some key working parts:
   

NAME
    Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee

HEADQUARTERS
    Albuquerque, with an office in Santa Fe.
   

ROLLOUT
    Richardson will file papers Monday, Jan. 21, to form the committee. His major campaigning and fundraising push will commence after the state legislative session concludes in March.

TIMING
    Richardson tossed his hat in the ring following Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's presidential announcement. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton announced her Oval Office bid Saturday.

RÉSUMÉ
    Likely Richardson's strongest political asset— a former congressman, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, energy secretary, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Democratic Governors Association chairman and incumbent second-term governor.

STAFF
    Dave Contarino and Amanda Cooper will head up the campaign.
    Contarino ran Richardson's 2002 gubernatorial campaign, served as his chief of staff and chaired his 2006 re-election effort.
    Cooper, the daughter of Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., managed Richardson's 2006 campaign and helped Richardson with fundraising during his two-year stint as DGA chairman.
    Colleen Turrentine will serve as a finance director. She is the former fundraising director for the Democratic Leadership Council and worked for Sen. Joe Lieberman's 2004 presidential campaign.
    Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for the Governor's Office, is leaving his state job to handle media affairs for the campaign.

THE SENIOR ADVISERS
    Steve Murphy and Mark Putnam, founders of a Washington consulting firm, will serve as strategists.
    Jeff Eller, who worked for former Democratic President Bill Clinton's first campaign and did press affairs for the Clinton White House, will be a senior communications adviser.
    Mike Stratton, a longtime Richardson friend and senior adviser, will handle national politics and Western affairs.
    Jennifer Yocham Poersch, a former deputy finance director for the 2004 Lieberman campaign, will serve as a senior finance consultant.
    Joe Velasquez, a former deputy director of political affairs for Bill Clinton, will provide advice on labor and politics.
    Calvin Humphrey, a longtime Richardson adviser who recently traveled to Sudan with Richardson, will work on foreign-affairs issues.
    Andre Pineda, founder of a California-based polling and communications firm, will work on polling and research.
    Suzanne Cole Nowers, chief executive of a marketing firm, will coordinate direct-mail fundraising.

THE WEB SITE
    www.richardsonforpresident.com