Madeleine Albright, First Female U.S. Secretary of State, Passes at 84

The first woman to serve as U.S. Secretary of State has passed away. Madeleine Albright’s family said she died of cancer at the age of 84.

In honor of her service to our country, President Joe Biden has ordered all U.S. flags flown at half-staff through March 27. On Wednesday a Presidential proclamation was issued from the White House.

Madeleine Albright was a force.  She defied convention and broke barriers again and again.  She was an immigrant fleeing persecution.  A refugee in need of safe haven.  And like so many before her — and after — she was proudly American.

As the devoted mother of three beloved daughters, she worked tirelessly raising them while earning her doctorate degree and starting her career in American diplomacy.  She took her talents first to the Senate as a staffer for Senator Edmund Muskie followed by the National Security Council under President Carter.  And then to the United Nations where she served as United States Ambassador, and ultimately, made history as our first woman Secretary of State, appointed by President Clinton.  A scholar, teacher, bestselling author, and later accomplished business woman, she always believed America was the indispensable Nation, and inspired the next generation of public servants to follow her lead, including countless women leaders around the world.  Madeleine was always a force for goodness, grace, and decency — and for freedom.

As a mark of respect for former Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright and her life of service to our Nation, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on March 27, 2022.  I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin reaffirmed that U.S. flags would be lowered.

Pursuant to President Biden’s Presidential Proclamation to lower the United States flag, I do hereby order that the flags of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Virginia are to be flown at half-staff over the state Capitol and all local, state, and federal buildings and grounds in the Commonwealth of Virginia in respect and memory of former Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright.

I hereby order that the flags shall be lowered at sunrise on March 24, 2022, until sunset on March 27, 2022.

Former President George W. Bush remembered Mrs. Albright.

“Laura and I are heartbroken by the news of Madeleine Albright’s death. She lived out the American dream and helped others realize it. As a young girl in Czechoslovakia, she fled the Nazis, and years later, she fled Communism. When she arrived in the United States as a young girl aboard the SS America in 1948, she never dreamt that she would become our nation’s first female Secretary of State. She served with distinction as a foreign-born foreign minister who understood firsthand the importance of free societies for peace in our world. I respect her love of country and public service, and Laura and I are grateful to have called Madeleine Albright our friend. We send our sincere sympathies to her daughters.”

Former President Bill Clinton was in the White House when he appointed Mrs. Albright as Secretary of State. The move made history by breaking the glass ceiling for women to move into one of the most important Presidential Cabinet positions in D.C. He tweeted out a statement about this woman who came to our country as a refugee from World War II Europe and achieved great things in her life.

My statement on the passing of Madeleine Albright—one of the finest Secretaries of State, an outstanding UN Ambassador, a brilliant professor, and an extraordinary human being. pic.twitter.com/50QXFhzGit

— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) March 23, 2022

A statement from the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) mourns the passing of Secretary Madeleine K. Albright, CFR’s director emerita. Secretary Albright joined the Council in 1976 and served on the board of directors from 2004 to 2014. She was an ardent member and friend of the Council throughout her pathbreaking career. Secretary Albright will be remembered not only for being the nation’s first female Secretary of State, but also for her consistent, principled championing of diplomacy and democracy and, when warranted, military force. CFR offers its heartfelt condolences to her entire family. –David M. Rubenstein, Chairman Richard N. Haass, President

For more on this remarkable woman:

-New York Times: Madeleine Albright, First Woman to Serve as Secretary of State, Dies at 84

-Washington Post: Madeleine Albright dies; first female secretary of state was 84