Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve in the role, died on Wednesday at the age of 84 her family said in a statement.
“We are heartbroken to announce that Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, the 64th U.S. Secretary of state and the first woman to hold that position, passed away earlier today. The cause was cancer. She was surrounded by family and friends. We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend.” The statement also read that she was “A tireless champion of democracy and human rights”
Albright was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1937, and moved the United States as a refugee in 1948 and grew up in Denver, Colorado. She majored in political science at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and graduated in 1959. She later attended Johns Hopkins University, and obtained a PhD at Columbia University.
Albright got involved in politics when she became a legislative assistant for former U.S. Senator Ed Muskie. She later worked for the National Security Council in the Carter administration. Albright served as a foreign policy advisor to Democrat Vice Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro 1984 and then for Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Albright to be U.S. ambassador the United Nations, shortly after he was sworn in. In 1997, Albright was then sworn in as the first woman to be Secretary of State of the United States making her the highest ranking woman in the government in U.S. history at the time. As Secretary of State, Albright steered U.S. foreign policy in the post-cold war era, and had major influence over U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the Balkans.
Following her time in the Clinton administration, Albright continued to focus on international relations and foreign policy through various foundations and the numerous books that she wrote. She also made several appearances on television including shows like Parks and Recreation, Golden Girls, and Madam Secretary. Albright was also well known for the symbolic pins and brooches that she wore when she conducted diplomacy or sat at the negotiating table starting from her time as UN Ambassador. Albright was awarded the Presidential medal of freedom by President Obama in 2012.