Madeleine Albright & The New American

Selected by President Clinton as the first woman to be Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright rode into office on a wave of popularity. She was an instant celebrity in Washington and around the world, recognized everywhere and widely admired for her blunt style and dramatic personal history. Facing a Congress controlled by the opposition and an unruly world where the rules of the Cold War no longer applied, this tough-talking grandmother and Democratic political insider adopted the highest profile of any Cabinet official since Henry Kissinger as she struggled to convert her personal stature into foreign policy success. Inside the State Department, she grappled with an entrenched bureaucracy to force new issues such as womens rights and international crime onto the foreign policy agenda.As a reporter for the Washington Post, Thomas Lippman spent two and a half years travelling with Albright around the world, from crisis to crisis, to compile this inside account of her campaign to reshape American diplomacy for the new century.

The story of the woman who, with unprecedented enthusiasm and openness, helped forge a new foreign policy for America.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-351) and index.

Thomas Lippman, a respected former correspondent and bureau chief at the Washington Post, traveled with Albright for two and a half years to write this political biography. Lippman is the author of Understanding Islam, which is now in its second edition.