Madeleine Albright who rose to become the first woman secretary of state and had a hand in shaping American foreign policy passed away at the age of 84.
She was the most influential stateswoman of her generation. She was born on May 15, 1937 in Czechoslovakia and went to the United States as a refugee with her family in 1948 and became a US citizen in 1957. Her father was a diplomat who converted from Judaism to Catholicism after her family fled to London in 1939 to escape the Nazis.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Wellesley College and proceeded to do her doctorate in political science at Columbia University. She joined the National Security Council in the White House during the regime of President Jimmy Carter. She served as US ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997 when she became secretary of state. She married Joseph Albright in 1959 and the couple divorced in 1982.
Madeleine had a sharp wit and fiery intellect which she used to advance America’s national security and to promote peace in the world.
