Madeleine Albright
Albright is also an accomplished writer. With five New York best sellers, she is influential in many fields. One is a memoir entitled, “Madam Secretary.” Another, “Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box” plays on the way she always wears a brooch.
Doctor, politician, diplomat, there is little this woman has not accomplish. Dr. Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright was the first female United States Secretary of State in President Bill Clinton’s second term of office. She was the highest ranking female in the government at the time and in history.
Albright was even a permanent representative to the United Nations for the United States. She also held the position of President of the Center for National Policy for President Jimmy Carter’s Security Council.
A Czech Republic immigrant, she advocates democracy and humanity’s rights in her multiple government positions. With her family she fled Adolf Hitler, then returned only to flee Czech Republic’s communist regime.
In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian honor. Universities also awarded her honorary degrees, and she is a professor at Georgetown University. She continues to chair and serve as president of several foundations and institutions.
Albright is also the mother of three daughters by her former husband Joseph Medill Patterson Albright. At 79 years old, she continues to advise presidents and politicians, chair the Albright Stonebridge Group, write, and be a grandmother.
“Women have to be active listeners and interrupters – but when you interrupt, you have to know what you are talking about.” -Madeleine Albright
