A Wellesley graduate with a doctorate from Columbia, she speaks five languages.
A sense of the world
During her years out of government, Albright opened her Georgetown home as a salon for Democratic movers and shakers. Her divorce settlement from Joseph Albright, an heir to a newspaper fortune, left her independently wealthy.
As the daughter of a Czech diplomat who fled communism after World War II, Albright "has a good sense of the world," Kirkpatrick said. "That Central European background and experience has left her more serious about communism than [are] some other Democrats."
It has also imbued Albright with an immigrant's faith in American ideals, which influences both her public statements and her private advice.
In one little-heralded example of the latter, Albright played a key role in advising Hillary Rodham Clinton during her trip to China last year for an international women's conference.
Although Mrs. Clinton had drawn strong objections to her attending the conference, she turned the visit into a public relations triumph for the United States, with Albright's help, by bluntly criticizing China's human rights policies and its abuse of young girls.
Pub Date: 12/06/96
