Madeleine Albright Former Secretary of State Dead At 84

 

Madeleine Albright, First Woman To Serve As U.S. Secretary Of State, Dead At 84

Albright's family announced her death on social media on Wednesday, March 23. "We are heartbroken to announced that Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, the 64th U.S. Secretary of State and the first woman to hold that position, passed away earlier today," their message read. "The cause was cancer. She was surrounded by family and friends. We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend."

A Prague native who came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1948, Albright served as the Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. In 2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.