Hillary Rodham Clinton took her first oath of government office today, becoming a US senator at the same moment that her husband became the first American president with a spouse in the Senate.
Though she ranks 97th in the 100-member Senate in terms of seniority, the first lady was plainly first among equals during the swearing-in ceremony in the ornate chamber on Capitol Hill.
As the 10th senator to be sworn, all eyes followed her promenade from her seat in the rear of the hall to the desk where Senate president Al Gore - the Democratic vice president and failed presidential candidate - administered the oath and gave Ms Clinton a kiss on the cheek.
President Clinton sat in the front row of the gallery, holding daughter Chelsea's hand, as Ms Clinton was sworn. Others in the gallery were Ms Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, and Tyler Clinton, the first couple's 6-year-old nephew.
"Ecstatic!" the president replied when asked his mood at a ceremonial picture-taking session afterward. "I'm so happy."
Ms Clinton's answer to the same question was simply "great."
The ironies came thick and fast: Sen. Clinton's inauguration occurred in the same room where her husband was tried and acquitted on impeachment charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
The new senator got big bear hugs from some of her colleagues who voted to convict the president. Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, at 98 the oldest Senate member, was particularly effusive, walking from behind his desk in the front row to grasp Ms Clinton by the waist with both hands as she stepped away from the central desk where she was sworn.
Reuters