WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed three Bush Cabinet nominees — Mike Leavitt and Jim Nicholson in a unanimous vote and Condoleezza Rice in one of the most divided votes ever recorded for a secretary of state.

Also on Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to become attorney general. Democrats said the 10-8 vote should remind President Bush he won't be able to roll through the opposition party in his second term.

Leavitt's confirmation as the 20th secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was marked with glowing praise from both sides of the political aisle for Utah's former governor.

But the praise did not come without a caution from several lawmakers that Leavitt has his hands full with a full slate of issues — from Medicaid reform to implementing the massive Medicare prescription drug program, to the affordability of health care.

"This is a crucial year," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which gave its nod to Leavitt on Tuesday.

Leavitt was officially sworn in 8 p.m. EST Wednesday. His first congratulatory call was from Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Leavitt expressed "great optimism for the opportunity to contribute," calling the president's confidence in him a "meaningful expression."

"The chance to serve the American people is a privilege that I cherish," he said during a briefing with Utah media after the Senate vote.

Leavitt was scheduled to travel with the president today for a speech on health information technology — something Congress left unfunded last year. And that prompted a lengthy chastisement by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., during Leavitt's confirmation.

Leavitt weathered two confirmation hearings relatively unscathed, but he noted, "They are hard to predict, and you are always glad when they are over."

Nicholson's confirmation as secretary of veteran affairs echoed the unanimous voice vote that Leavitt received.

Rice's confirmation vote was overwhelming — 85-13 — but still the largest "no" vote against any secretary of state nominee since 1825.

Through history, no nominee for secretary of state has been defeated in the Senate. Many have had little or no opposition and were confirmed without recorded votes. Only one, Henry Clay in 1825, received more recorded no votes than Rice, according to the Senate Historian's office. Clay was confirmed by a vote of 27-14.

More recently, Henry Kissinger was approved 78-7, Dean Acheson 83-6 and Alexander Haig 93-6.