The death of the former head of US diplomacy was confirmed in an email to staff at the Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategy firm founded by Ms Albright. She was a central figure in President Bill Clinton’s administration, first as US Ambassador to the United Nations before becoming the country’s top diplomat during his second term.
Madeleine Albright was the face of American foreign policy during the decade between the end of the Cold War and the campaign against terrorism unleashed after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1937, she had to flee Nazi repression to England in 1939 with her family when she was two years old. Prior to becoming the 64th Secretary of State, Ms. Albright worked for Senator Edmund Muskie’s 1972 presidential campaign, eventually becoming his top legislative aide.
She later worked for Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, as well as for various non-profit organizations during the years of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush.