Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Albright, Madeleine (2003). " Madam Secretary", 182. ... Madeleine Albright to Co-Chair Genocide Prevention Task Force, Huffington Post, ...
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Madeleine Albright: Biography from Answers.com
Madeleine Albright , U.S. Secretary of State Born: 15 May 1937 Birthplace: Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) Best Known As: U.S
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Madeleine Albright
Madeleine K. Albright at Washington Post. The Glass Ceiling Biographies - Madeleine Korbel Albright ... Madeleine Albright, "Secretary of Hate" - February 11, 1997 ...
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Madeleine K. Albright - Council on Foreign Relations
Madeleine K. Albright, Chairman, National Democratic Institute for International ... Watch former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discuss her new book, The ...
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Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright
Madeleine ... You are in: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice > Former Secretaries of ... Madeleine Korbel Albright. Secretary of State, Term of Appointment: 01/23 ...
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{{Infobox US Cabinet official| name=Madeleine Albright| image=Albrightmadeleine.jpg| image_width=250px| order=64th| title=United States Secretary of State [1997 [2001| successor=[Colin Powell| order2=21st| title2=[United States Ambassador to the United Nations [1993 [1997| predecessor2=[Edward J. Perkins| birth_date=| birth_place=[Prague, Czechoslovakia Biography at The Washington Post]| spouse=Joseph Medill Patterson Albright (1959-1982) (divorced)]| religion=Episcopal Church in the United States of America| footnotes=-->Madeleine Korbel Albright (born May 15 1937) was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State.She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on December 5 1996 and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate 99-0. She was sworn in on January 23 1997.

Personal information Madeleine Albright was born as Marie Jana Korbelová in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) and raised as a Roman Catholic by her parents, who had converted from Judaism in order to escape persecution. She has a brother, John, who later became an economist. "Madeleine" was the French version of "Madlenka", a nickname given by her grandmother. Albright adopted the new name when she attended a Swiss boarding school. Albright is the daughter of a diplomat — her father, Josef, served in the Czech diplomatic service. Her brother said, "Madeleine had a special relationship with our father, partly because she followed so closely in his footsteps". Later in life, she joined the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

From 1936 to 1939 the Korbel Family lived in Belgrade, and in 1939 the Korbel family fled to London. Many of her Jewish relatives in Czechoslovakia were killed in the Holocaust, including three of her grandparents.

She and her parents fled again when the Communists assumed power over Czechoslovakia, moving to the United States of America in 1948. Once settled there, Josef became the founding dean of the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Korbel later taught future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.{{cite news | first =Guy | last =Raz | title =For Albright and Rice, Josef Korbel Is Tie that Binds | url =http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5516648 | publisher =NPR | date =June 28, 2006| accessdate =2007-02-14 --> In ''Madam Secretary'', Albright wrote of how her mother told her that Rice was her father's favorite student. At Josef's funeral, Rice gave the family a planter shaped like a piano in the memory of Korbel.

Albright attended school in Switzerland and in Denver at Kent Denver School, and later majored in political science on a scholarship at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She became a U.S. citizen in 1957. After Wellesley graduation in May 1959, she married Chicago newspaper journalist Joseph Medill Patterson Albright, whom she had met working a summer job with the Denver Post.

They had three daughters, twins Anne and Alice, and Katie. When the twins were born six weeks prematurely, Albright took a course in Russian as a distraction. By the end of their hospital stay, she was fluent in the language. While raising her family, she earned a Ph.D. in Public Law and Government from Columbia University.

The couple divorced in 1982.

Albright is multilingualism, being fluent in English language, French language, and Czech language in addition to Russian language, with good speaking and reading abilities in German language, Polish language and Serbo-Croat language. She is a Secretary of State.

After her retirement, Albright published her memoir, Madam Secretary (2003) ISBN 0-7868-6843-0 and The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (2006) ISBN 0-06-089257-9.

According to Loudoun County assessment records, Secretary Albright owns a 125-acre property in Loudoun, with a mailing address in Washington, DC.

Academic and public career Madeleine Albright graduated from Kent Denver high school in 1955. Awarded a B.A. from Wellesley College with honors in Political Science, she studied at the Johns Hopkins SAIS at Johns Hopkins University, received a Certificate from the Russian Institute at Columbia University, and her Masters and Doctorate from Columbia University's Department of Public Law and Government. She was also awarded Honorary Doctors of Laws from the University of Washington in 2002, University of Winnipeg in 2005 and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007.

From 1976 to 1978, she served as Chief Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Edmund Muskie. From 1978 to 1981, as both a staff member of the White House and the National Security Council, Albright was an important Carter Administration official responsible for the formulation of foreign policy legislation.

From 1981 to 1982, Secretary Albright was awarded a fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution following an international competition in which she wrote about therole of the press in political changes in Poland during the early 1980s.

From 1981 to 1982, she also served as a Senior Fellow in Soviet Union and Eastern European Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, conducting research in developments and trends in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

In 1981, she co-founded the Center for National Policy. She also served as President of the organization.

In 1982, Albright was appointed Research Professor of International Affairs and Director of Women in Foreign Service Program at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She taught undergraduate and graduate courses in international affairs, U.S. foreign policy, Russian foreign policy, and Central Europe and Eastern European politics, and was responsible for developing and implementing programs designed to enhance women's professional opportunities in international affairs. She was voted "best teacher" four times. Before becoming Secretary of State, Albright served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations in President Clinton's Cabinet. Today, Secretary Albright is once again a professor at Georgetown.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Albright gained recognition as a foreign policy adviser to vice-presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and to presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988. Though both failed to be elected, she emerged as a key adviser to Democrats on foreign policy. Albright was appointed ambassador to the UN, her first diplomatic post, shortly after Clinton was inaugurated, presenting her credentials on February 9 1993. During her tenure at the UN, she had a rocky relationship with the United Nations Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali. She did not take action against the genocide in Rwanda. Albright later remarked in PBS documentary Ghosts of Rwanda that "it was a very, very difficult time, and the situation was unclear. You know, in retrospect, it all looks very clear. But when you were at the time, it was unclear about what was happening in Rwanda."

She was also criticized for defending the sanctions of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, which led to hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. In 1996, she made highly controversial remarks in an interview with Lesley Stahl on CBS's 60 Minutes. Asked by Stahl with regards to effect of sanctions against Iraq: "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?". Albright replied: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price — we think the price is worth it."She expressed regret for this remark in her 2003 autobiography, and when asked about it in 2005 she said "I never should have made it, it was stupid," but she still supported the concept of tailored sanctions.

Both Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright insisted that an attack on Hussein could only be stopped if Hussein reversed his decision to halt arms inspections. "Iraq has a simple choice. Reverse course or face the consequences," Albright said.

The lawyers of Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali, convicted in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, used Albright's 60 Minutes comment in an attempt to save the terrorist from the death penalty.

Also in 1996, after Cuban pilots shot down two small civilian aircraft flown by the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue into Cuban territory, she announced, "This is not Cojones#Usage in English. This is cowardice." The line reportedly endeared her to President Clinton. Boutros Boutros-Ghali's spokesperson Sylvana Foa said of Albright, "She's no shrinking violet. She can be biting."

Secretary of State When Madeleine Albright was confirmed as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States, she became the first female Secretary of State and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States government. Not being a natural born citizen of the United States, she was not eligible as United States presidential line of succession and was excluded from nuclear contingency plans. As Secretary, Dr. Albright reinforced America’s alliances, advocated democracy and human rights, and promoted American trade and business, labor and environmental standards abroad.

During her tenure, Albright considerably influenced American policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Middle East. She incurred the wrath of a number of Serbs in the former Yugoslavia for her perceived personal anti-Serb position and her role in participating in the formulation of U.S. policy during the Kosovo War and Bosnian war as well as the rest of the Balkans. According to Colin Powell's memoirs, Albright once argued for the use of military force by asking, "What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about, if we can’t use it?"

As Secretary of State she represented the United States at the Handover of Hong Kong on 1 July 1997. She boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of the China-appointed Legislative Council of Hong Kong, which replaced the elected one, along with the British contingents.http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/10/hong.kong.us/index.html

According to several accounts, the American ambassador to Kenya, Prudence Bushnell, repeatedly asked Washington for additional security at the embassy in Nairobi, including in an April 1998 letter directly to Albright. Bushnell was ignored.http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/010999africa-bomb.html In "Against All Enemies," Richard Clarke writes about an exchange with Albright several months after the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed in August 1998. "What do you think will happen if you lose another embassy?" Clarke asked. "The Republicans in Congress will go after you." "First of all, I didn't lose these two embassies," Albright shot back. "I inherited them in the shape they were."

In 1998, at the 50th anniversary NATO summit, Albright articulated what would become known as the "three Ds" of NATO, "which is no diminution of NATO, no discrimination and no duplication -- because I think thatwe don't need any of those three "Ds" to happen."http://www.fas.org/man/nato/news/1998/98120904_tlt.html

In 2000, Secretary Albright became one of the highest level Western diplomats to ever meet Kim Jong-il, the communist leader of North Korea, during an official state visit to that country.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kim/interviews/Albright.html

In one of her last acts as Secretary of State, Albright on January 8 2001, paid a farewell call on Kofi Annan and said that the United States would continue to press Iraq to destroy all its weapons of mass destruction as a condition of lifting economic sanctions, even after the end of the Clinton administration on January 20 2001.http://www.usembassy.it/file2001_01/alia/a1010801.htm

Post-2001 career Following Albright's term as U.S. Secretary of State, many speculated that she might pursue a career in politics of the Czech Republic. Czech President Václav Havel talked openly about the possibility of Albright succeeding him after he retired in 2002. Albright was reportedly flattered by suggestions that she should run for office, but denied ever seriously considering it.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/659215.stm She was the 2nd recipient of the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award presented by the Prague Society for International Cooperation.

Albright and at least five other members of the Clinton administration currently serve on the Council on Foreign Relations board of directors. Kenneth M. Pollack, director for Gulf affairs at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration, in 2002 wrote "The Threatening Storm," which was published with, according to Pollack on page 426, the imprimatur of the Council on Foreign Relations. Pollack argued that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, containment was failing, and that Saddam Hussein should be removed from power through the use of force.

She is currently the Mortara Distinguished Professor of Diplomacy at the Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. On October 25 2005, Albright guest starred on the TV drama Gilmore Girls as herself.

In 2003, she accepted a position on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange. In 2005, Albright declined to run for re-election to the Board in the aftermath of the Grasso compensation scandal, in which the Chairman of the NYSE Board of Directors, Dick Grasso, had been granted $187.5-million dollars in compensation, with little governance by the board on which Albright sat. During the tenure of the interim chairman, John S. Reed, Albright served as chairwoman of the NYSE board's nominating and governance committee. Shortly after the appointment of the NYSE board's permanent chairman in 2005, Albright submitted her resignation.http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/02/Business/Interim_NYSE_chairman.shtml

On January 5 2006, she participated in a meeting at the White House of former Secretaries of Defense and State to discuss United States foreign policy with Bush administration officials. On May 5 2006 she was again invited to the White House to meet with former Secretaries and Bush administration officials to discuss Iraq.

Albright currently serves as chairperson of National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and as president of the Truman Scholarship Foundation. She is also the co-chair of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor. She is also currently Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders Women's Ministerial Initiative.

In an interview to Newsweek published in July 24 2006, Albright gave her opinion in United States' current foreign policy. Albright said: "I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that Iraq is going to turn out to be the greatest disaster in American foreign policy – worse than Vietnam."http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13879417/site/newsweek/

In September 2006 she received the Menschen in Europa Award, with Václav Havel, for furthering the cause of international understanding.

Albright has mentioned her physical fitness and exercise regimen in several interviews. She has said she is capable of leg pressing 400 pounds. U.S. News - Washington Whispers, May 5, 2006 NPR - Madeline Albright Reveals Exercise Regimen For "Kicking Ass"

She has endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for the President of the United States and supports her Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, 2008. Albright has been a close personal friend of Sen. Clinton and serves as her top informal advisor on foreign policy matters.

On May 13 2007, two days before her 70th birthday, Albright received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC News Release - Five to receive honorary degrees at Carolina's Spring Commencement

Albright spoke at Capella University in June 2007.http://www.capellacommons.com/2007/06/07/distinguished-speaker-dr-madeline-albright/

She has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of Chancellor at Vanderbilt University.http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070726/COLUMNIST0101/707260368/1092/NEWS01

In September 2007, Albright was the keynote speaker for the 2007 Robert D. Swanson Responsible Leadership Speaker Series at Alma College.http://www.alma.edu/academics/leadership/events

References

External links

Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Madeleine Albright from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Portrait of Madeleine Albright – Madeleine Albright interviewed by Ulysse Gosset on France 24 - The Talk of Paris Show
Official biography at State Department site
Biography at National Women's History Project
Sample chapter and audio interview about The Mighty and the Almighty (Official publisher web page)
Summary Biography from Global Leaders
1997 commencement speech, Mount Holyoke College
2003 commencement speech, Smith College
2007 commencement speech, Wellesley College
Listing at Marquis Who's Who in the World
Chapter excerpts and audio interview about foreign policy (Official publisher web page)
Audio recording of Albright's talk, "The Mighty and the Almighty," as part of the University of Chicago World Beyond the Headlines series.

{{U.S. Secretary box| before= Warren Christopher| years=[1997–[2001| department= Secretary of State-->

Madeleine Albright - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Madeleine Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová on May 15, 1937) was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton ...

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Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright
Madeleine Albright ... BIOGRAPHY Madeleine Korbel Albright Secretary of State, Term of Appointment: 01/23/1997 to 01/19/2001

Madeleine Albright - Wikiquote
Madeleine Albright is a Czech-born American politician. [edit] Sourced "Bill Clinton lied, but nobody died." John Kerry rally, October 11, 2004; I think this is a very hard choice ...

Madeleine Albright - Wikimedia Commons
Madeleine Korbel Albright is an American diplomat. She served as US Secretary of State and US Ambassador to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton.

Madeleine Albright
It’s a hard choice, but I think, we, think, it’s worth it." Her response to a May 11, 1996 60 Minutes question about the over half a million children killed by the [Iraqi ...

Madam Secretary - Comment - The Oxford Student - Official Student ...
In the midst of the confusion surrounding her arrival and the uncertainty as to whether she would come at all, Madeleine Albright appeared entirely unfazed when she was finally ...

YouTube - Madeleine Albright on Gilmore Girls
Madeleine Albright in a cameo on Gilmore Girls, reenacting a scene from the first season with Alexis Bledel.