PrimeTime Exclusive: Katherine Harris Interview

Jan. 11 -- For 36 days, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris was arguably the most powerful and talked about woman in America.

In her first interview since she landed in the center of the most bitter presidential election in modern memory, Harris denies any wrongdoing, partisanship, or abuse of discretion in her moves to certify George W. Bush as the winner of her state's contested vote.

"I followed the law," she tells ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer. "Before God, before the law, before the people of the state of Florida who elected me, I know that I followed the law."

Harris, a Republican and a co-chair of the Bush campaign in Florida, emphasizes that she is an independently elected official — not an appointee of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president-elect’s brother. She says she has no plans to join his administration as an ambassador, as had been speculated in The Washington Post.

"Certainly that is a dream for everyone, but right now I have a job to do and I am very focused," says Harris.

Ties to Bush

Asked what her relationship is with President-elect Bush, Harris, who proudly displays a photo with the Bush brothers in her Tallahassee office, says, "I admire him incredibly, and I respect the job he has done as governor, and I think he is going to be a great president."

But she discounts any suggestion that her actions, such as rejecting hand-counted ballots, were purposely intended to help Bush win. "I believe that George Bush won the election through the vote of the people and the way our republic is set up," she says. "All we did was follow the law in the Department of State."

Had a full recount of the whole state been completed, she says she has no idea who would have won.

"There's just no way I could know … I have no idea," says Harris. "Certainly I had my preference, and I very much hoped that George W. Bush would be our next president," but in her capacity as secretary of state, she says, "I just wanted to be a voice of reason."