Madeleine Albright was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on May 15, 1937 and today celebrates her 76 birthday. Madeleine was a toddler when the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia and her family fled the country immigrating to the United States where she grew up. Madeleine learned a great deal about diplomacy from her father Josef Korbel who was an esteemed professor who taught at the University of Denver (Colorado). She grew up in Colorado and earned a scholarship to attend Wellesley College (Massachusetts) and later obtained a graduate degree and Ph.D.
Albright entered the American political universe in 1972 when she was hired as Democratic Senator Edmund Muskie’s legislative assistance. In 1978 she was hired to work for President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Council. In the early eighties when Republican President Ronald Reagan became president she moved into the private sector working as a professor at Georgetown University.
In 1993 as the request of Democratic President Bill Clinton Albright became the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and in 1996 President Clinton nominated her to the post of Secretary of State. Madeleine Albright thus became the first female Secretary of State in United States history. Secretary of State Albright worked on numerous diplomatic tasks, projects and issues during her tenure as Secretary of State including working on international human rights, working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons world-wide and working to bring peace to the Middle East. Albright became known as a tough, determined, resourceful and fair Secretary of State and gained international esteem for her diplomatic work. She left the post of Secretary of State in 2001 when Republican George W. Bush was elected president.
Since leaving politics Albright has written several books including:
Madam Secretary: A Memoir (2003)
The Mighty and the Almighty (2006)
&
Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box (2009)
In 2011 Madeleine Albright was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award given in the U.S.
Here’s a link to a Whitehouse YouTube clip, titled 2011 Medal of Freedom Recipient Madeleine Albright, which features a brief interview with Albright:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwEZp-PhT-8
A link to a Bio biography of Madeleine Albright:
http://www.biography.com/people/madeleine-albright-9179300
A link to a bio of Albright found on the U.S. Department of State site which offers a bit more information on her career than the Bio biography:
http://secretary.state.gov/www/albright/albright.html
And more links that relate to the offices Albright held during her political career just in case you’d like to know more about them!
Here’s a link to the official White House page on The National Security Council – which tells you a bit about what the National Security Council does:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc
A link to a United Nations page on the current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice – which tells you a bit about what the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations does:
http://usun.state.gov/leadership/c31461.htm
And a link to the U.S. Department of State “About State” page which offers you links to many pages of information on what the role is of the U.S. Department of State and the Secretary of State in the form of the current Secretary of State John Kerry:
http://www.state.gov/aboutstate/
Have a great day!
Linda R.
References
About State. U. S. Department of State: Diplomacy in Action. Online. Accessed May 15, 2013.
Archives: Biography Madeleine Korbel Albright: U.S. Secretary of State. U.S. Department of State. Online. Accessed May 15, 2013.
Ambassador Susan E. Rice. United States Mission to the United Nations. Online. Accessed May 15, 2013.
Chase’s Calendar of Events 2013. New York. McGraw-Hill. 2013.
Madeleine Albright. Bio. Online. Accessed May 15, 2013.
National Security Council. Whitehouse. Online. Accessed May 15, 2013.
The American Dream Starts @ The Southeast Steuben County Library 