Madeleine Albright Research Paper

Madeleine Albright is an extraordinary woman who has faced many challenges throughout her life, while at the same time achieving worldwide success. Madeleine was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on May 15, 1937. As a young girl, Madeleine had big hopes and dreams, however, life was not easy for her as a child. At a young age, Madeleine and her family constantly fled from the Nazi’s that invaded their homeland Czechoslovakia. The Nazi regime became so aggressively anti-semitic that in order to survive, Madeleine's family was forced to convert to Catholicism and only learned later in life of her Jewish roots. After fleeing to Britain and spending the war years there, the Korbel family eventually immigrated to the United States and arrived on Ellis

The greatest stumbling block of her professional dream was the societal view of the time that a woman could not handle a high powered position. Rather, a woman was meant to take care of her home. Regarding her ultimate position, Madeleine once stated “The job was considered to be the very top role a diplomat could ever achieve - and a woman had never held it.” (Albright 71). Helping to break the current view of women’s inferiority was Madeleine's dream. On her way to accomplishing her life's goal, Madeleine also needed to dedicate time and effort to raising her family. Although not an easy task, she knew that this was also a priority and had to figure out a way to prevent this from becoming an obstacle while ensuring she would succeed on this level as well. An even greater obstacle, was her personal life. One of Madeleine’s daughters died at young age and her husband left her for another women. These personal setbacks gave her the determination to succeed on all levels. She is often quoted as saying “Divorce is what drove me to the White House”. (Michael

She realized that knowledge is power and in order to gain the positions and success she desired, she would need to learn as much as possible. With this in mind, Madeleine spent the years of 1959 to 1975 in school. Focusing on history, language and international relations, she earned degrees from Columbia, Hofstra and John Hopkins. All that she learned during these years helped her to achieve her dreams, which ultimately made her a first choice to represent the United States as Secretary of State. Her constant determination to succeed on a professional level is what enabled her to be a successful parent while also preventing this responsibility from disturbing her professional dreams. She worked day and night whether it was for her country or her family. “Madeleine’s day had been long, but it was not over yet.” (Albreight 9) . Madeleine Albright has achieved many great successes throughout her life. She was appointed professor of International Relations at Georgetown University in Washington