Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright, born Marie Jana Körbelová on May 15, 1937, was an important American diplomat and political scientist. She became the first woman to serve as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton.

Albright was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and moved to the United States at the age of eleven after the 1948 communist coup d'état. Her father, diplomat Josef Korbel, settled the family in Denver, Colorado, and she later became a U.S. citizen in 1957. She studied at Wellesley College and earned a PhD from Columbia University.

She worked for Senator Edmund Muskie and later served on the National Security Council before becoming a professor at Georgetown University. She was United States ambassador to the United Nations before becoming secretary of state. After her time in government, she led the Albright Stonebridge Group and taught at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. In 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

Early life and career

Madeleine Albright was born Marie Jana Körbelová in 1937 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her parents were Josef Korbel, a diplomat, and Anna Korbel. When she was young, her family had to leave Czechoslovakia because of political changes. They moved to Britain during World War II and later returned to Prague. However, when the Communist Party took control in 1948, her family moved again, this time to the United States.

The family settled in Denver, Colorado, where Madeleine grew up. She went to Wellesley College and studied political science. She became a U.S. citizen in 1957 and later worked as a journalist and studied international relations. She married Joseph Albright and had three daughters. Madeleine continued her education and earned advanced degrees, focusing on topics like the Soviet diplomatic corps and events in Prague in 1968.

Career

Early career

Madeleine Albright returned to Washington, D.C., in 1968. She studied at Columbia University and earned her highest degree in 1975. She started helping with school fundraisers and later took on roles in education boards. She helped organize a big dinner for a presidential campaign in 1972 and then worked closely with a senator. She later joined a team helping with foreign policy advice and traveled to Poland for research.

She began teaching at Georgetown University in 1982, focusing on Eastern Europe. She also helped advise political candidates and worked on transitioning the government when Bill Clinton won in 1992. In 1993, she became the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

Albright became the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1993. She spoke out against the leader of the United Nations when he was not paying attention to serious problems happening in Rwanda. She worked hard to stop him from being re-elected. She also talked about difficult situations in Rwanda and made strong comments when planes were shot down by Cuban pilots.

Secretary of State

When Bill Clinton began his second term in 1997, Madeleine Albright became the first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. She played an important role in U.S. policies in Bosnia and the Middle East. She supported sending troops to Bosnia to help keep peace. She also pushed for economic sanctions against Iraq.

Albright traveled to many places to represent the United States, including Hong Kong and North Korea. She spoke up about important issues like NATO and the need for Iraq to give up certain weapons. After leaving her role in 2001, she received awards for public service and continued to work in many important positions around the world.

Controversies

Sanctions against Iraq

Main article: Sanctions against Iraq

In the 1990s and 2000s, some studies showed that many children in Iraq faced tough times after sanctions were put in place following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Later studies during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq suggested that child difficulties did not greatly increase after 1990.

In 1996, as ambassador, Albright talked about the sanctions on a TV show. She was asked if it was worth the hard times people faced, and she said it was. Later, she said she regretted her words and apologized, explaining she did not mean to sound unkind. She also said that some information she was given was misleading.

Art ownership lawsuit

After a newspaper story about Albright, a man named Philipp Harmer claimed that her family had taken artwork that belonged to his great-grandfather. Harmer’s family said the items were taken when they left Prague after World War II. Albright’s family said the claim had no basis.

Speech against Serbs and war profiteering

In 2012, during a book event in Prague, Albright was approached by activists who showed her photos of people hurt in wars. She made a harsh comment about Serbs, which some found upsetting. This happened around the same time her investment firm was planning to bid for a big business deal in Kosovo, which Serbia opposed. The bid was later withdrawn.

Hillary Clinton campaign comment

Albright supported Hillary Clinton in her 2016 presidential campaign. At an event, she said women who don’t support each other have a tough place to be. Some people thought this was not fair, especially to women who supported Clinton’s rival, Senator Bernie Sanders. Albright later said she did not mean for her words to be taken the way they were.

Honorary degrees and awards

Madeleine Albright received many honors for her work. She was given special degrees, called honorary degrees, from many universities such as Brandeis University, Mount Holyoke College, and Tufts University.

She was also recognized by groups like the National Women's Hall of Fame and was chosen for special awards, including the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award and the Great Immigrants Award. In 2019, Time selected her as one of the influential women from the year 1999, and in 2020, she was named one of the world’s 100 most powerful women by Time.

Personal life

Madeleine Albright married Joseph Albright in 1959, and they had three daughters before divorcing in 1982. She was raised Catholic but joined the Episcopal Church when she got married. She was a strong believer and often went to services at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C.

Her parents had changed from Judaism to Catholicism when she was young, after moving from Czechoslovakia to England in 1939 to escape unfair treatment. They did not talk about their Jewish background with her later. When The Washington Post wrote about her Jewish family history after she became Secretary of State in 1997, it was a big surprise to her. She found out at age 59 that both of her parents were born into Jewish families. Sadly, many of her family members, including three of her grandparents, were harmed during the Holocaust.

Albright could speak several languages: English, Russian, Czech, French, German, Polish, and Serbo-Croatian, and she understood Slovak. She liked to stay active and said in 2006 that she could leg press 400 pounds (180 kg). In 2013, The Guardian named her as one of the 50 best-dressed women over 50.

Death and funeral

Albright passed away from cancer in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 2022, at the age of 84. Many leaders, including U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, as well as former British prime minister Tony Blair, honored her memory.

Her funeral took place at Washington National Cathedral on April 27. Important people such as President Joe Biden, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and former secretaries of state Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice attended. She was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.^{[citation needed]}