Madeleine Korbel Albright (1937-) was born Marie Jana Korbelova in Prague, Czechoslovakia and moved to the United States with her family at age 11.

Because her father was an ambassador, Albright said that childhood meals always included lively discussions. "We only talked about foreign policy at our house...I never stopped being interested in foreign policy."

As the first woman Secretary of State, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1996, she became history's highest ranking woman in U.S. government.

"Somebody said to me early on, 'Do you realize that you have Thomas Jefferson's job?' A little awe there," she observed about her job as the President's principal adviser on foreign policy.

"When I work, I really work. I rub my eyes and my makeup comes off, and I stick pencils in my hair," she said.

A chief legislative assistant for Edmund Muskie, congressional liaison for Jimmy Carter, speechwriter for Michael Dukakis, and Ambassador to the United Nations, Albright was described by Washington Post writer Mary McGrory as "an intellectual... with a heart." Republican Senator Jesse Helms called Albright a "tough and courageous lady."

Fluent in French and Czech, Albright has a reputation for being eloquent, tough, and confident. "The only plan I ever had was to try to use the knowledge that I had, work hard and have a good time... my version of good time," she said.

Look forward with hope.