He is remembered as the first and to date only working class member of the Federal Council, the Swiss government.

[3] He attended numerous classes at the Swiss Workers' Education Central which was established by the SP politician Max Weber.

[5] On 5 December 1973, Ritschard was elected to the Federal Council, where he assumed the leadership of the Department of Transport and Energy.

[1] The Nuclear Energy Act, which the Swiss citizens accepted in a national referendum in 1979, was enacted under his lead.

[1] He was not amused when he had to attend a royal banquet dressed in black tie on 1 May, International Workers' Day, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's state visit to Switzerland in 1980.

[4][7] He was a celebrity politician, and the punk band Hertz released a song about him while he was in office.

[2] He acknowledged that he did not write all his speeches by himself;[2] some were written by the writer and journalist Peter Bichsel, his neighbor.

[3] His funeral service took place in the St. Urs and Victor Cathedral in Solothurn on 20 October.