Madeleine Albright, first female US secretary of state, passes away at 84

President Barack Obama bestowed the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honour, to Albright in 2012, saying her life was an example to all Americans.

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Washington D.C., First Published Mar 24, 2022, 9:22 AM IST | Last Updated May 4, 2022, 9:19 PM IST

Madeleine Albright, the first female US Secretary of State, died of cancer on Wednesday, according to her family. She was 84 years old. Albright was appointed as America's top diplomat by President Bill Clinton in 1996, and she served in that role for the final four years of the Clinton administration. She had previously served as Clinton's United Nations ambassador.

She was the highest-ranking woman in US government history at the time. She was not in line for the president, however, because she was a Czechoslovakian born in Prague. Her relatives said on Twitter, "She was surrounded by family and friends." "We lost a wonderful mother, grandma, sister, aunt, and friend," it added.

President Barack Obama bestowed the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honour, to Albright in 2012, saying her life was an example to all Americans.

Albright maintained her outspokenness over the years. She attacked President George W. Bush after leaving office for employing "the shock of force" rather than alliances to develop dialogue, claiming that Bush had pushed away moderate Arab leaders and created the prospect for a serious rupture with European allies.

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She was not a dove, however, as a refugee from Czechoslovakia, and she played a key role in pressuring the Clinton administration to intervene militarily in the Kosovo conflict. She also took a tough stance on Cuba, memorably telling the United Nations that the Cuban shootdown of a civilian jet was the result of "cowardice" rather than "cojones."
She recommended women to "act more confidently" and "raise questions as they arise, rather than waiting to ask."

Albright was an internationalist whose perspective was influenced in part by her upbringing. Her family escaped Czechoslovakia in 1939, when the Nazis seized power, and she spent the war years in London.

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