Madeleine Albright: Fierce

Photo Credit: FIU Center for Leadership. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/norahcasey/status/1093420953462288384 on 4.29.22

Reason to Remember Madeleine Albright with Gratitude and as an Inspiration to All Women

1. She Was Unapologetic About Her Career Ambitions

She has noted that her husband was not a fan of her career, and cited it as a reason for his affair that ended their marriage. Instead of falling into self-blame and self-pity, she went on with her career and openly stated in interviews that the cause of the marriage breakdown was his lack of opportunity given her talents, as they made him insecure and jealous of her accolades - no shame or apologies here!

2. She was a "non-traditional" College Student

While she had a great deal of financial support through her husband's wealth family, she was not a traditional student. She had to move with her husband's career several times and transferred colleges several times. She wrote her dissertation while pregnant with her third daughter at the age of 35.

3. She began her career in politics as an entry-level event organizer in her forties.

Yup, you heard that right. Her first political roles were working for her local Board of Education (BOE) and later for a local representative as his event coordinator. She had been a student, mother and volunteer most of her adult life until her forties.

4. Her culture and religion evolved as she aged

While many people participate in labels which suggest our identities are fixed, Albright was not comfortable with that. Particularly given her immigrant history. Her parents fled Prague at an early age and settled in Colorado. They were privileged because her father was a prominent scholar and well respected both in Prague and Colorado but, her birth family held secrets to help her survive and avoid discrimination. She was told later in life her family was Jewish though they converted to Catholicism before emigrating to America, and she had never known this. Later, she converted to Episcopalian for her husband and remained in that religion for the rest of her life. She was a prominent member of Washington's National Cathedral and held volunteer positions there. Recently, her funeral was hosted at the Cathedral and it was obvious her loss was felt by all that she touched. Nonetheless, in her life, she had adapted and evolved as she saw fit. She lived at an intersection of culture between Russia, Czechoslovakia and America. She lived at the intersection of traditional gender roles and national leadership in a time when misogyny reigned. An she chose her spiritual path on her own terms too. She was a women who lived by her own soul an her own standards.

5. Despite being the top diplomat in the world, she was perfectly clear how women should treat each other

In her infamous quote, that she repeated twice - once in 2004 and once in 2016 - she stated "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women". She is a women who knew such great success but, paid such a personal cost for it. She did not believe a relationship could survive her success and never married a second time. She understood women needed to support each other on the way to the top. And despite being one of the most cultured women in the world linguistically, she very plainly stated here truth. Support women. Period.

Thank you for the inspiration you were Secretary Albright! You will be forever missed!