After a tour as a Naval War College student in 1933–1934, he was Budget Officer at the Navy Department, receiving promotion to rear admiral while he was in that position in December 1934.

His early duties as a flag officer included command of a Scouting Force cruiser division, service as aide and Chief of Staff to Admiral J.M.

He became Assistant CNO to Admiral William D. Leahy in June 1937, handling the Washington end of the search for Amelia Earhart and the attack on the USS Panay.

[1]Richardson held the position during a stressful period marked by presidential orders to deploy the Pacific part of the fleet to Pearl Harbor from its traditional naval base in San Diego, California.

He noted: In 1940, the policy-making branch of the Government in foreign affairs − the President and the Secretary of State − thought that stationing the Fleet in Hawaii would restrain the Japanese.

"[3] Richardson recognized how vulnerable the fleet would be in such an exposed and remote position, a logistical nightmare that was only worsened by the slim resources and the lack of preparation and organization.

What is more, Richardson held the belief that Pearl Harbor was the logical first point of attack for the Japanese High Command, wedded as it was to the theory of undeclared and surprise warfare.

He followed that up with an official letter to the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Harold R. Stark, pointing out his own firm conviction that neither the Navy nor the country was prepared for war with Japan.

During that October visit with FDR, Richardson told the President his belief that “the senior officers of the Navy do not have the trust and confidence in the civilian leadership of this country that is essential for the successful prosecution of a war in the pacific.

Admiral Ernest King became Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet (CinCLant) on the same day and later CinCUS in December 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

"[8] Transferred to the retired list with the rank of admiral in October 1942, he remained on active service with the Navy Relief Society, as senior member of a "Special Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee" on the reorganization of the national defense, as one of the first called before the Congressional Committee on Pearl Harbor and as a witness before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.