PENNSYLVANIA Former governor recalls highlights of his tenure

The nation's first Homeland Security chief praised his successor.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Former Gov. Tom Ridge returned to the Capitol on Friday for the unveiling of his official portrait and reminisced about his more than 6 1/2 years as Pennsylvania's chief executive, calling it "the best political job in America."
About 200 people crammed into the governor's reception room for the ceremony in which Ridge, current Gov. Ed Rendell and their wives removed a burgundy velvet drape that covered the painting, which depicted the Republican governor standing at a podium.
Ridge, an Erie native, was first elected governor in 1994 and re-elected in 1998.
He resigned after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to become the nation's first homeland security secretary under President Bush.
"The best political job in America is being governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, bar none," said Ridge, provoking laughter when he added: "Six years, nine months and five days, folks."
Ridge recalled the kindness of the governor's residence staffers, who built a treehouse for his two children, Lesley and Tommy, and the games he would play with the children in the dining room.
"We never had to replace too many bulbs in the chandelier," he joked.
Service to the state
Rendell praised both Ridge and Mark S. Schweiker, the lieutenant governor who succeeded him after he departed for Washington, for taking steps to improve the state's environment, economy and business climate.
He also said they ran "an effective, competent and scandal-free government."
"If you look across the political landscape of states throughout the United States of America, that's an enormous achievement," Rendell said.
Rendell, a Democrat, noted that he dealt with Ridge's administration for six of the eight years that he served as Philadelphia's mayor.
"Sometimes that cast us in adversarial roles, but more often it cast us in roles where we were working together to make progress and help revitalize the commonwealth's biggest city," Rendell said.
The $7,000 portrait will hang in the governor's office.