Albright, Madeleine,
1937–2022, American government official, b. Prague, Czechoslovakia, as Maria Jana
Körbel. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1948, and she attended Wellesley
College (B.A., 1959) and Columbia (M.A., 1968; Ph.D., 1976). A lifelong Democrat, she was
chief legislative assistant to Senator Edmund Muskie (1976–78) and served on the staff of the National Security Council
and the White House (1978–81) under President Carter. Albright then was an
international affairs professor at Georgetown Univ. (1982–93); her home was an informal
meeting place for prominent Democrats and international leaders. She was (1992) an adviser to
Bill Clinton, who appointed her ambassador to the United Nations
in 1993. A forceful promoter of American interests, she encouraged increased U.S.
participation in the United Nations, often in military actions. In 1997, President Clinton
named her secretary of state; she was the first woman to hold (1997–2001) the post.
Upholding the administration's “assertive multilateralism,” Albright supported
expanding NATO and advocated for an active foreign policy, including using U.S. forces to
protect American interests and prevent genocide. She has written several books on foreign
affairs.
See her memoirs, Madam Secretary (2003), Prague Winter (2012), Hell and Other Destinations (2020, with B. Woodward); biographies by T. Blood (1997), A. Blackman (1998), and M. Dobbs (1999).
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