The presidency of Bill Clinton began at noon EST on January 20, 1993, when Bill Clinton was inaugurated as the 42nd President of the United States, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office. Clinton decided to appoint the first female Attorney General, settling on little-known corporate lawyer Zoë Baird. Clinton decided to appoint the first female Attorney General, settling on little-known corporate lawyer Zoë Baird. Though Secretary of Labor Robert Reich argued that stagnant earnings represented a bigger economic issue than the deficits, Clinton decided to pursue deficit reduction as the major economic priority of his first year in office. In doing so, he reluctantly abandoned a middle class tax cut that he had championed during the campaign. Meanwhile, Dole, one of the oldest major party presidential nominees in history, proved to be ineffective campaigner.