News > Madeleine Albright, 1st Female US Secretary Of State, Passes Away

Madeleine Albright, 1st Female US Secretary Of State, Passes Away

Madeleine Albright, a child refugee from Nazi- and then Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe who rose to become the first female secretary of state and a mentor to many current and former American statesmen and women, died Wednesday of cancer, her family said.

As secretary of state, Albright was the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.