 Outgoing Chief of Staff Leon Panetta favored Albright, but a separate faction took argued, "anybody but Albright," with Sam Nunn as its first choice.Albright orchestrated a campaign on her own behalf that proved successful.When Albright took office as the 64th U.S. Secretary of State on January 23, 1997, she became the first female U.S. Secretary of State and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government at the time of her appointment.