Washington: Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as the U.S. secretary of state, passed away at the age of 84, on Wednesday, her family said in a statement. Albright died of cancer, her family said, adding that she was ‘surrounded by family and friends’ at the time.
President Joe Biden remembered Albright as ‘a force for goodness, grace, and decency—and for freedom’. She ‘defied convention and broke barriers again and again’, Biden said in a statement. Biden said Albright had ‘turned the tide of history’, adding that she “defied convention and broke barriers again and again’. He also ordered flags to be flown at half-mast in her honor until March 27.
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Albright had came to the United States as a child refugee, and rose to be the first female secretary of state, shaping American foreign policy at the end of the 20th century. Albright served in the post for four years, actively promoting the expansion of NATO and military intervention in Kosovo. Tapped by president Bill Clinton as ambassador to the United Nations then as the US top diplomat, Albright was one of the most influential stateswomen of her generation. Not since Margaret Thatcher governed Britain had a woman held such a position of global influence.
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