The presidency of Bill Clinton began at noon EST on January 20, 1993, when Bill Clinton was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat, took office as the 42nd United States president following a decisive victory over Republican incumbent president George H. W. Bush and Independent businessman Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election. Four years later, in the 1996 election, he defeated Perot and Republican Bob Dole to win re-election. During both elections, Clinton ran as a New Democrat, and many of his administration's policy proposals reflected his centrist, Third Way thinking. He was the first president elected after the end of the Cold War, the first Baby Boomer to become president, and also the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to serve two full terms. He was succeeded by Republican George W. Bush, who won the 2000 presidential election.