Photo: Courtesy of Wendy Thompson
Under former President Bill Clinton’s administration, Madeleine Albright served as ambassador to the UN, and also during Clinton’s second term, she was nominated and served as secretary of state. As secretary of state, she represented the US on the world stage for international events such as the Rwandan dispute between the Hutus and the Tutsis, which led to the genocide of over 800,000 people. Albright led the US in its attempt to broker a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, which was ultimately unsuccessful. She was at the forefront of world events involving leaders such as: North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Serbia’s Milosevic.
Albright was born to a Czechoslovakian diplomat, who escaped with his family and fled Prague during the Nazi invasion in 1937. Her family released a statement on Wednesday announcing her death due to cancer. She was 84.
