Albright Recites Oath and Makes History

WASHINGTON — Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the nation’s first female secretary of State on Thursday.

She declared that the United States must never be “complacent or timid or unwilling to look beyond our borders.”

President Clinton beamed as Albright repeated the oath of office administered by Vice President Al Gore in an Oval Office ceremony. Albright’s daughters, Alice, Anne and Katie, also watched.

“Madeleine Albright has the strength and wisdom to help ensure that America remains the indispensable nation,” Clinton said. “Her story is the best of America’s story, told with courage, compassion and conviction.”

Albright is a naturalized American, daughter of a Czech diplomat whose family fled the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia when she was 11.

In brief remarks, Albright said the United States must not retreat from global leadership.

“If we are complacent or timid or unwilling to look beyond our borders, our citizens will not prosper. And the framework of American leadership and the foundation of American security we have built could crumble with 21st-century speed,” Albright said.

Once sworn in, Albright began to settle in at the State Department in earnest. She had lunch with Chief of Staff Elaine Shocas in the public cafeteria--something few, if any, of her predecessors have done. As she carried her tray to her table, many employees stopped to congratulate her, witnesses said.

Former Maine Sen. William S. Cohen, a Republican, will take the oath as secretary of Defense today.