WASHINGTON — President Clinton officially entered the realm of political spouses Tuesday, accompanying his senator-elect wife to a dinner for incoming members of the U.S. Senate.
Clinton joined first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for dinner at the Supreme Court for senators who will serve in the 107th Congress, which convenes in January. They were among 250 guests invited to the dinner, which is a Senate tradition.
White House spokesman Jake Siewert said Tuesday's dinner was Clinton's first official event as the husband of the junior senator-elect from New York.
The president was attending in his capacity as a spouse and did not plan to speak or, for that matter, to be overtly presidential, Siewert said.
"He's very much looking forward to it. He said that on a number of occasions," Siewert said. "He's looking forward to heading out into the private sector and earning a living and supporting, as he said, the new senator in the family."
As for whether Hillary Rodham Clinton was wearing her senator hat or her first lady hat Tuesday night, Siewert said, "Oh, I think she can be both."
Clinton had something of a Senate-spouse practice run Monday night as he escorted his wife to a splashy reception for the Senate's incoming freshman Democrats.
He greeted the new lawmakers and shook a lot of hands at that event, Siewert said, but his appearance there was "more in his capacity as president than as a spouse of a senator-elect."
The president also experimented with his new duties last week at an informal dinner given by New York's retiring Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, whose seat the first lady won. The president was at his wife's side at her Election Night victory celebration but did not join her first official news conference the next day.
Tuesday's dinner capped Hillary Clinton's first day in "Senate School," a series of seminars, tours and class photos for the body's 11 new members.