This week, in honor of the amazing Ruth Bader GInsburg, whose passing is a true tragedy, we here at Her Campus want to talk about other amazing women in government who have changed our country for the better.
Being a woman in this world isn’t easy, and being able to make lasting change for the better in a man’s world is truly remarkable and incredibly brave. Madeleine Albright is no exception to this. She was America’s first female Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton, a position she held from 1997 to 2001. Before that she was a U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations from 1993 to 1997.
Born in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) to a Czech diplomat, her family fled to England in 1939 when the Nazis overtook their country. They then converted from Judaism to Catholicism. Albright did not actually know that her family was Jewish until 1997 when she also discovered that her grandparents had died in German concentration camps. Her family had relocated to Czechoslovakia after the war, but they were considered refugees, and they soon relocated to the United States by 1948.
Albright spent most of her life in the United States, where she then graduated from Wellesley (Massachusetts) College and married her husband Joseph Albright. She later graduated with her Master’s Degree from Columbia University.
Soon after that she began to work as a fundraiser for Democratic nominee Edmund Muskie’s failed 1972 presidential campaign, but she later served as his chief legislative assistant. By 1976, Albright had gotten her Ph.D. from Columbia University and was working for Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor.
During the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Albright worked hard to strengthen the Democratic party by working with nonprofit organizations and letting her home become a salon for Democratic policy makers and politicians. During this time she also taught international affairs at Georgetown University.
After Bill Clinton was elected as President of the United States, Albright’s political stardom began to rise, and she was appointed as the ambassador to the United Nations. While at the United Nations, she gave the United States an increased role, especially in regards to military affairs. This led to her nomination as Secretary of State being unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 1997.
As Secretary of State, Albright for democracy and civil rights. She pushed to halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. In 2000, she also became the highest ranking U.S. official to visit North Korea in an attempt to end their nuclear program.
Since her time as Secretary of State, she founded the Albright group, a consulting firm, endorsed Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaigns and served on the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ms. Albright is obviously a very big deal to United States history, and it’s important that we remember her efforts, and the efforts of other women in government who have, and continue to make a difference.
In memory and honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.