Michelle Wu makes history as she is sworn in as the first Asian-American to serve as Boston's mayor

• Michelle was sworn in Tuesday as the first woman and person of color to be elected as Boston's mayor.
• Before the city's first Asian American mayor took the oath of office, Boston only elected white men as mayor.

Michelle Wu was sworn in Tuesday as the first woman and person of color to be elected mayor of Boston.

Earlier this month, Wu, 36, defeated fellow Democratic candidate and city councilor Annissa Essaibi George in the city's general election. Before becoming the city's first Asian-American mayor, Boston had only elected white men to the mayoral office.

"City government is special," Wu said after taking the oath of office. "We are the level closest to the people, so we must do the big and the small. Every streetlight, every pothole, every park, and classroom, lays the foundation for greater change."

"After all, Boston was founded on a revolutionary promise: that things don't have to be as they always have been, that we can chart a new path for families now, and for generations to come, grounded in justice and opportunity," she continued.

Wu ran a campaign on progressive policies such as eliminating fares on the city's public transportation system, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MTBA).

She also proposed an overhaul of the city's economic planning and development by abolishing the Boston Planning and Development Agency to create a municipal body more focused on affordability, traffic mitigation, and climate action.

Kim Janey, president of the Boston City Council who served as acting mayor after Marty Walsh joined the Biden administration as Secretary of Labor, congratulated Wu after she was sworn in. Janey also ran to keep office following the election but lost in the September preliminary election for the top two spots in the general election.

"I know that Boston is in good hands and I am so proud to call you Madam mayor," Janey said.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat representing Massachusetts, also offered her congratulations to Wu, who attended Harvard University and Harvard Law School, where the US senator previously worked as a professor.

"From teaching her in law school to working together in many righteous fights, I know Michelle fights from the heart with big, bold ideas and will do a terrific job," Warren tweeted Tuesday.