Ex-Sen. Randolph, at 15th Inauguration, Praises President

Jennings Randolph, 82, reviewed his 15th presidential inauguration Monday and gave Ronald Reagan a bipartisan tip of the hat.

Randolph, a Democrat who retired from Congress this month after representing West Virginia for 40 years in the Senate and House, has attended every inauguration since Herbert Hoover took the oath in 1929. He now plans to work as a magazine editor.

The veteran lawmaker noted that Reagan had said that “in spite of our problems and differences, we are a united people. That in essence is what he said, and I agree with that. I thought the response was wholesome. We don’t meet as Republicans and Democrats, we meet as citizens.”