Madeleine Albright, 1st female US secretary of state, dies

By MATTHEW LEE
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Madeleine Albright, a child refugee from Nazi- and then Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe who rose to become the first female secretary of state, has died at age 84. Her family says she died of cancer on Wednesday. Albright was a mentor to many current and former American statesmen and women. President Bill Clinton chose Albright as America’s top diplomat in 1996, and she served in that capacity for the last four years of the Clinton administration. At the time, she was the highest-ranking woman in the history of U.S. government. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded Albright the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.