WASHINGTON, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The Washington National Cathedral hosted a funeral for former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden eulogized Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state who died of cancer in March at age 84.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who chose Albright to be the country's top diplomat in 1996, and his wife, former first lady and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also spoke at the funeral, along with the veteran diplomat's three daughters.
The attendees at the service also included former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, former Vice President Al Gore, Biden administration officials, congressional leaders, and members of the diplomatic corps, as well as several foreign leaders and representatives.
A native of Prague, then Czechoslovakia, Albright migrated to the United States in 1948, and her family eventually settled in Denver, Colorado. She became a U.S. citizen in 1957.
Albright earned a B.A. in political science from Wellesley College in 1959, and earned a Ph.D. in Public Law and Government at Columbia University in 1976.
From 1978 to 1981, Albright served as a White House staff member under President Jimmy Carter and worked under National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
In 1982, she was appointed research professor of international affairs at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.
Albright was appointed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by Bill Clinton in 1993 and served in the position until her appointment as secretary of state.
As secretary of state, Albright championed America's alliances and promoted the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). And she pushed for NATO's military intervention - led by the United States in 1999 - into the conflict in Kosovo between the Serbs and ethnic Albanians. NATO's 78-day airstrike campaign against then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia later extended to the bombardment of the capital city of Belgrade.
After leaving the U.S. government, Albright returned to the Georgetown University as a professor in the practice of diplomacy.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
