Engeleiter Sworn In as Head of the SBA

Susan Engeleiter, who lost a Senate race last fall, has been sworn in at the White House as head of the Small Business Administration, praised by President Bush as “a strong, articulate advocate of small businesses.”

During a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room, Bush said Engeleiter, 37, had been the first Republican woman to serve in the Wisconsin Senate and had been--at age 22--the youngest woman in the United States elected to a state legislature.

Last November, she was defeated by Democrat Herbert H. Kohl in the race for the seat given up by retiring Wisconsin Democrat William Proxmire, who had served since August, 1957.

Engeleiter had tears in her eyes as Bush said he was pleased “that this agency will be led by such a strong, articulate advocate of small businesses.”

She was sworn in by Chase Untermeyer, the White House personnel chief.