Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as Secretary of State in the United States, has died, her family said.
Albright died at the age of 84, her family confirmed. Her cause of death was cancer.
“She was surrounded by loved ones and acquaintances. We have suffered the loss of a devoted mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend “As stated in the statement.
She served as Secretary of State during the Clinton administration from 1997 until 2001.
“Hillary and I are devastated by Madeleine Albright’s death. She was one of the finest secretaries of state in history, an exceptional United Nations ambassador, a brilliant professor, and an extraordinary human being “Former President Bill Clinton stated Wednesday afternoon in a statement. “Few leaders have been so perfectly suited to their eras.”
Albright was born in what was then Czechoslovakia and fled the country with her family in 1939, when the Nazis invaded.
According to a biography from the State Department’s Office of the Historian, Albright’s father Josef was a member of the Czechoslovak Foreign Service and served as ambassador to Yugoslavia.
President Biden made a remark about the difficulties Albright faced as a young woman.
“She was a persecuted immigrant. A refugee in search of safety. And, like so many others who came before her — and those who followed — she was a proud American. To improve the nation she loved, she bucked convention and smashed boundaries repeatedly “Biden said Wednesday in a statement. “Madeleine was and has always been a force for kindness, elegance, and decency—as well as for liberty.”
Biden has also directed that flags be flown at half-staff at the White House and on all US official buildings and grounds in honour of Albright.
Her family relocated to Denver, Colorado, after Yugoslavia’s communist takeover in 1948, according to the Office of the Historian. Albright became a citizen of the United States in 1957 and graduated with honours from Wellesley College in 1959 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. According to the office, she got a Ph.D. in Public Law and Government from Columbia University in 1976.
Albright started her political career in 1976 as top legislative assistant to the late Sen. Edmund Muskie, a Democrat from Maine. She then served as a member of former President Jimmy Carter’s White House staff and on the National Security Council from 1978 to 1981, the office said.
Prior to her appointment as Secretary of State, Clinton named her Ambassador to the United Nations in 1993.
“As secretary of state, Albright advocated for NATO expansion eastward into former Soviet bloc countries and for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons from former Soviet republics to rogue states,” the Office of the Historian said.
Albright was described as a “trailblazer and light” by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States’ current ambassador to the United Nations, at a Wednesday meeting of the General Assembly’s Emergency Special Session on Ukraine.
“She indelibly imprinted herself on the globe and the United Nations. Our nation and United Nations are both stronger as a result of her contribution “According to Thomas-Greenfield.
Albright talked with NPR in June in advance of a meeting between Russian and US leaders in Geneva. Albright recalls meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in 1999. He was “desperately attempting to get the favour of President Clinton,” she said.
“To be honest, my first impression was that he was still figuring out who he was. However, my opinion of him during the second two encounters was that he loved the backdrop of being in the Kremlin with all its history, that he was astute, that he was prepared, and that he had a position on how events would unfold “Albright said to NPR.