Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright is the first woman to be the, U.S. Secretary of State. She's the highest ranking woman in U.S. politics ever.

Madeleine Albright was born Marie Jana Korbel on May 1937 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. "Madeleine" was a nickname that her grandmother gave her. Her father raised her to believe in the democratic kind of government.

In 1939, her family left Czechoslovakia because of the Nazis invading. They lived in England until the end of World War II. In 1945, they moved back to Czechoslovakia. Her family moved to the U.S. in 1948 because of the communist government going into Czechoslovakia.

She was always interested in her father's career as a diplomat in Czechoslovakia. She was a very hard worker. She graduated from Wellesley College with honors. She got married in May 1959 to Joseph Albright, and had three daughters. She earned her Ph.D. in 1976, from Columbia University.

In 1977, Zbigniew Brzezinski was Secretary of State for President Jimmy Carter. He was one of Madeleine's professors from Columbia, and asked her to work for him at the White House, until 1980. In 1982, Madeleine was divorced, and began to teach at Georgetown University. She was used twice as foreign policy advisor for people running for President of the United States.

In 1993, President Clinton made Madeleine the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

In January 1997 she was made Secretary of State. The secretary is the top adviser on foreign affairs. She has to find major world problems that the U.S. forces and figure out how to deal with them. She's the fourth person in line to the presidency.

1998 by Michael, third grade

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