Madeleine Albright, First Female Secretary Of State, Dies At 84

Topline

Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state, has died at the age of 84 from cancer, her family said Wednesday in a statement.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 26: Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright delivers remarks on the … [+] second day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 26, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton received the number of votes needed to secure the party’s nomination. An estimated 50,000 people are expected in Philadelphia, including hundreds of protesters and members of the media. The four-day Democratic National Convention kicked off July 25. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Albright died earlier Wednesday, her family wrote in the statement.

Her family said Albright was “surrounded by family and friends,” adding they “have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend.”

Key Background

Albright served as former President Bill Clinton’s secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, becoming the highest-ranking female U.S. government official to that date. She was born in Czechoslovakia before migrating with her family to the United States as a child, and she worked in government and academia before working as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997. As Secretary of State, Albright played a key role in shaping U.S. foreign policy after the Cold War, helping to expand NATO to former Warsaw Pact countries like Poland. She also pushed for the United States and NATO to intervene during the violent collapse of Yugoslavia: At one point when she was UN ambassador, she reportedly asked then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, “What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?” Albright said one of her greatest regrets is that the Clinton Administration did not react more forcefully during the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 people were killed.

Tangent

A day before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine last month, Albright wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times Russian President Vladimir Putin would make a “historic error” if he invaded the neighboring country. “Ukraine is entitled to its sovereignty, no matter who its neighbors happen to be,” Albright wrote in the op-ed.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/masonbissada/2022/03/23/madeleine-albright-first-female-secretary-of-state-dies-at-84/