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Madam Secretary: A Memoir
byMadeleine Albright
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Review
“One of the most diverting political bios in recent memory.” (Entertainment Weekly)
“Her portraits of foreign leaders are lively and evocative. . . . The result is a book that creates a sense of policy made by real people.” (The New Yorker)
“Madeleine Albright has written a different kind of memoir. . . . It’s Albright unplugged.” (USA Today)
“Albright is frank, assertive. . . . straight-shooting.” (The New York Times)
“The fascinating story of a remarkable person who has served her country well.” (The Dallas Morning News)
About the Author
Madeleine Albright served as America's sixty-fourth Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001. Her distinguished career also includes positions on Capitol Hill, the National Security Council, and as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. She is a resident of Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
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23 people found this helpful
3.0 out of 5 starsA Far-Ranging Autobiography --- Readers Will Learn Much
ByBookreporteron October 17, 2003
In winding up her far-ranging autobiography, Madeleine Albright tells us with amusement that once, after leaving office as U.S. Secretary of State, she was mistaken in public for Margaret Thatcher.
It's worth a chuckle to the reader --- but there are indeed interesting similarities between the two women, even though their political leanings are light-years apart. They both reached the highest rank ever attained by a woman in their respective democratic governments, were fiercely partisan political figures, and held very strong opinions and were never afraid to battle for them (Albright's favorite expression for this is that she never hesitated to "push back" at those who opposed her).
Albright is best known for serving as U.S. ambassador to the UN in the first Clinton term, and as Secretary of State in the second. Readers of this book will learn in detail about the early years and long political apprenticeship that led up to those two high-profile jobs. They will also learn, in perhaps more detail than they care to absorb, about the many foreign policy crises in which she was a major player under Clinton.
The other thing about Albright that most people will recall is that only after she became Secretary of State did she learn that her family ancestry was Jewish --- that three of her grandparents had died in Nazi concentration camps. This personal revelation is duly covered but not dwelled upon in extraordinary detail.
Her life, though unsettled due to wartime exigencies, was not a rags-to-riches tale. She was born Marie Jana Korbel in Prague into a comfortably situated family. Her father was a respected Czech diplomat and college professor. Fleeing the Nazis, the family spent time in England during World War II. They arrived in the United States when she was 11, and her father took a teaching job in Denver. She entered Wellesley College in 1955 and became an American citizen two years later. She married into a wealthy and well-connected American family in 1959. Her first political idol and mentor was Edmund Muskie, in whose doomed presidential campaign she took part. After the breakup of her marriage, her career in government and politics took off during the Carter presidency, her only personal setback being a painful divorce in 1983.
This is all dispatched in the first 100 pages or so of her lengthy book. The rest of it details her UN and State Department years with a thoroughness that seems at times compulsive. All the heroes and villains of those years pass in review --- Carter, Havel, Milosevic, Helms, Clinton, Putin, Arafat, Barak. The complexities of Rwanda, Serbia, Kosovo, the Middle East, Somalia and other trouble spots are laid out in prose that can get ponderous --- but her incisive personal portraits of these people lighten the mood.
Albright makes no pretense to real objectivity. She is a committed Democrat who admired both Carter and Clinton, and she defends them against all the charges that have been flung at them by their opponents. She defends such controversial actions as Clinton's successful ousting of Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Secretary General of the UN, and his policy of opening up trade with China and warily seeking a somewhat civil relationship with North Korea. Her two biggest regrets are the failure of the UN to stop genocide in Rwanda and Clinton's failure to forge a solid peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (in that regard, while gently critical of Israel on occasion, she holds Arafat mainly responsible for the breakdown). The two biggest villains in her cast of characters, not surprisingly, are Arafat and Milosevic.
There is naturally a strong feminist slant to her narrative. There is also a vein of sharp observation, character analysis, and even humor. The writing, when not bogged down in the minutiae of crisis management, can be bright, though we are left to wonder how much of the credit is hers and how much belongs to her collaborator, Bill Woodward.
Mercifully, Monica Lewinsky remains a bit player in Albright's narrative. Two other things, perhaps more important, are also missing: detailed assessments of the effect of the 9/11 tragedy on America's global course and the George W. Bush administration. Those would have made an already long book longer, but one wishes she had covered them anyway.
--- Reviewed by Robert Finn
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5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Read
ByBuzzin Bee Reviewson August 17, 2015
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Wonderful book, I enjoyed reading Madam Secretary. I would recommend this book to anyone. Fast delivery to my home. This book was an excellent read.
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5.0 out of 5 starsShe does a great job of putting her life and family in perspective
ByCathy Muelleron January 11, 2015
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Albright's story is compelling. She does a great job of putting her life and family in perspective.
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5.0 out of 5 starsPaving The Way to Power - A Female's Journey
ByV. L. Wilsonon September 19, 2006
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If you, like me, are curious about America's foreign policy, you will find this 512 page autobiography of the first female secretary of state, good insightful reading. It is written in an easy to read manner, very detailed and inforative, and you will wonder, as I did, how this woman managed to work so many long hours for the White House, flew all over the world to meet and eat with other diplomats, and still maintain her composure. What exactly motivated her? She clearly did have the background for this job, dearly loved the power and prestige, and like her or not, you will enjoy her memoirs. Yes you will!
Strangely, after completing this long memoir which could have been considerably shortened, I discovered her ideas of freedom and democracy are actually not unlike those of Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, her successors in the Bush administration. So I wonder why then, does she sound so partisan and take little digs at them on television interviews?
Madeleine Korbel was born in 1937 in Prague. She lived in England, went to school in Switzerland for a time, and arrived with her family in America in 1948. In 1949 the Korbel family moved to Colorado. While attending Wellesley College, she became an American citizen in 1957. In 1959, after graduating, she married Joseph Albright. They had three daughter, including identical twins. She suffered a very painful divorce from Joseph Albright in 1983.
During the marriage she earned a Ph.D from Columbia University. She worked for Senator Edmund Muskie, worked on the staff of the National Security Council among other things, and somehow managed to be wife, mother, hostess, and hone her diplomatic skills while working long hours.
From 1982-1992 Madeleine served on the faculty at Georgetown University School of Foreign Serive. She served as foreign policy advisor to democrats Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis. President Clinton designated her as representative to the UN. In 1996, he appointed Ambassador Albright to serve as secretary of state during his second term.
The second part of the book details those four years from her perspective. Madam Secretary had excellent people skills, had studied various cultures thoroughly, speaks several languages, had good work habits and loved discussing world affairs with her male counterparts and of course, her place in the Clinton cabinet.
As a woman, an independent voter, a reader of American history and politics, and one who enjoys learning about the "White House" from various viewpoints over time, I recommend this memoir because it is unique. Written by a woman who experienced many ups and downs but worked her way thru them and continues to express her viewpoints on foreign policy, offers insights concerning other countries and cultures, describes just what her job entailed - well, you can make your own judgements of her, but please read this book first of all! It's a very good read.
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2.0 out of 5 starsA bit disappointing.
BySykeson January 17, 2013
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I expected a much more interesting memoir than this book turned out to be. Mrs. Albright seemed to do a lot of stroking the many people she worked with in this book. It felt more like an advertisement for different politicians than an insightful, thought-provoking read. I was very sorry as I admire Madeleine Albright, quite a lot.
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5.0 out of 5 starsfrom a leisure reader
Byloquaciouson December 8, 2004
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I wish I hadn't put off reading this book. I never imagined I would enjoy it so much.
I would have never thought a political novel would keep me anxious for every page, but hers did. I enjoyed the mix of serious commentary and humor. Although it seems that she could have written more in some places it does seem candid overall.
Albright's writing style is very comfortable. She sticks to the point and presents her thoughts clearly. I felt as if I was being told stories by my own grandmother. I have a newfound respect for Albright as a role-model for todays young women.
I especially enjoyed her personal accounts of the "non-public" side of several world leaders.
I see some reviewers complain that this book didn't have enough hard hitting politics, but it does say it is a "memoir." I wasn't looking for policy choices or political analysis, I was looking for history from the point of view of one woman on the inside, and I found just that.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFascinating
ByCheryl Archeron December 27, 2010
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What a fascinating woman and what a journey she has been on throughout her life. Being an Australian, I was not drawn to purchase this book because of any political bias, I was just interested to learn more about her as a person and what lead her to become Secretary of State. The book is extremely well written and I found it hard to put it down. It never got bogged down in the political side but gave insight into political events and decisions that were very interesting. I would love to meet her in person - she is intelligent, resourceful, dogmatic in her determination to do everything in her power to ensure the well-being of America and its interests yet comes across as humble and I suspect she has a wicked sense of humor. I am full of admiration of what she has achieved in her life and I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to know more about the person behind the position.
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4.0 out of 5 starsImportant historic voice - especially for women
ByCopenhagenCathyon June 23, 2013
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Madeleine Albright is a unique and interesting person - no doubt about that. She has worked her way up from refugee to UN Ambassador and the first ever woman Secretary of State. She is open and honest and has a fun sense of humor that helps keep her many achievements in perspective. Her biography is a bit nerdy but well worth reading and should inspire many more girls and women to stretch for the stars.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe best autobiography I've read!
ByPaula Sissonon October 3, 2003
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I didn't want it to end. What a wonderful, delightful, insightful book Madeleine has written. To read this book is to walk in her shoes, and to know what it is like to not only care deeply and passionately about foreign affairs and far away countries, but what a single individual along with a motivated team (she could never forget her team) can accomplish in a poultry 4 years, to change the course of history and the lives of women, men and children we may never met. Thanks Madam Secretary! A reader From The Front Range of Colorado and the High Desert of Phoenix.
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5.0 out of 5 starsA good personal memoir of an outstanding woman.
ByJudith Keeon April 29, 2013
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I chose this book after reading PRAGUE WINTER which was hard to put down as Albright so well recounts her family's life story during the World War 11 days. MADAM SECRETARY was on my book shelf so to facilitate my reading I down loaded it on my KINDLE. Her writing reveals her personal pursuit of her call to teach and serve in government. She is good model for young women today.
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5.0 out of 5 starsBravo, Madam Secretary!
ByDebbieon June 2, 2013
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She made me understand what was really happening in the world behind all the confusing sensational headlines. I wish I had known it at the time.
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