![]() To travel with her from Prague to Kosovo was to understand what she meant to those who savored their new freedom and independence and labored to build nascent democracies. She worked valiantly to help strengthen the new democracies and was proud to be the chair of the National Democratic Institute. ![]() She loved teaching, and as she and her students simulated the role of key officials in government, she always assumed the role of President of the US and contrived some of the toughest foreign policy challenges for students to address.Īs a refugee, Madeleine never forgot the horrors perpetrated first by the Nazis and then the Soviets. ![]() So many students wanted to take her course that only a lottery would work fairly to determine who would be selected. She was also one of the most popular professors on campus. She was a strong supporter, participating in countless programs we sponsored. When I arrived at Georgetown, Madeleine was thrilled that the Institute for Women, Peace and Security would take the issues she had championed to another level by making the evidence-based case through research, programs, and student engagement. She reminded him that Madeleine “shared his foreign policy views and was the best communicator in his administration.” She added, “besides, it would make every little girl in America proud.” Many months after she was appointed Secretary of State, President Clinton was introducing Madeleine at an overseas embassy event and told the listeners that when he was in the process of making the decision about whom to nominate as Secretary of State, he asked Hillary what she thought-just as he solicited the opinion of others. It provided a rare opportunity to come together from time to time to talk about the issues, and whatever else was on our minds. Madeleine invited her to join the “Frank Group” which had an exclusive membership: the two of them (and Madeleine’s chief of staff and myself). Or, as Hillary Clinton underscored in her keynote address: “human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.” She worked very closely with then-First Lady Hillary Clinton and our respective staffs to prepare for the conference, which ultimately chiseled women’s rights into international human rights law. What is less known about her were her significant contributions to advancing progress for women and girls around the world as central to US foreign policy.ĭuring her time as Ambassador to the United Nations, President Clinton selected her to chair the US delegation to the Fourth UN Conference on Women that took place in Beijing. She became a powerful voice for the United States on international affairs and a global force for good. I first came to know Madeleine as an esteemed colleague in the Clinton administration when she served both as the US Ambassador to the United Nations and later as Secretary of State. It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of my friend, Madeleine Albright.
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