Baker, Kassebaum Form a Senate Caucus of 2, Marry

In a simple ceremony attended by their families and a few well-known friends, Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum and former Sen. Howard H. Baker Jr. were married Saturday, the first time two people who served in the Senate have ever tied the knot.

“She was beautiful, he was handsome, and they were happy,” said former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, who attended the wedding with his wife, Honey, at St. Alban’s Church in Washington.

The bride, 64, who is retiring in a few weeks after serving three Senate terms from Kansas, wore a dark purple dress just below knee length, accented by rolled pearls. Baker, 71, who served three Senate terms from Tennessee ending in 1985, wore a navy blue suit, white shirt, and navy tie with small yellow dots.

Viewed through the glass outer doors of the church, the couple clasped hands before the ceremony and then walked together down the aisle of the stone church, which is adjacent to the huge National Cathedral.

The 15-minute ceremony before 80 guests was performed by former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, an ordained Episcopal priest, and the Rev. Martha Anne Fairchild, a Presbyterian minister from Baker’s hometown of Huntsville, Tenn.

The matron of honor was Kassebaum’s daughter, Linda Johnson. Baker’s son Darek was best man.

After sealing their marriage with a kiss and greeting guests, the newlyweds came outside in a steady, cold rain to talk to reporters. Kassebaum said she wasn’t nervous, but Baker felt a little differently.

“I’ve been nervous for days,” he said.

Aside from their families, guests at the wedding included former First Lady Barbara Bush, former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and his wife, Elizabeth, former ambassador Robert S. Strauss and former Secretary of State Lawrence S. Eagleburger.

The couple planned a honeymoon, but wouldn’t reveal where they will go.