Holder sworn in as attorney general

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Eric Holder, pledging to restore credibility to the Justice Department, was sworn in Tuesday as the first African-American U.S. attorney general.

Saying the department was no place for "political favoritism," Holder said, "It is time, once again, to base our actions on policies that are rooted in fairness and in a desire to ensure a more just America."

Speaking of his appointment and the election of the nation's first African-American president, Holder said his journey from a house in Queens to the nation's top lawyer reflects "the wonder of America."

"With the appointment of Eric Holder as attorney general, we're going to be returning to a standard that has governed this great department at its greatest moments, in my view. No politics; no ideology," Vice President Joe Biden said before administering the oath of office.

Holder was deputy attorney general under former President Bill Clinton.

Scandal dogged the Justice Department under the leadership of former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales over the firings of several attorneys general and partisanship.