Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was a “force of good’ who worked to make the world safer for democracy, President Joe Biden said during his eulogy for her April 27 funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. Albright died in March at the age of 84 after a battle with cancer.
In his eulogy, Biden recounted a speech he gave in Poland before several thousand people, mostly Poles and Ukrainians. They did not speak English, but cheered in recognition when they heard Biden mention Albright.
“When I mentioned the name of Madeleine Albright, it was a deafening cheer. They all stopped everything. They started to cheer. It was spontaneous. It was real. For her name is still synonymous with America as a force for good in the world,” Biden said.
Biden credited Albright with expanding NATO, and continuing to help advise leaders around the world on foreign policy long after leaving official public service.
“Always on top of the latest developments. Always speaking out for democracy. And always the first to sound the alarm about fascism. Presidents and leaders around the world continue to solicit her advice, including me,” Biden said.
Albright, the first woman to serve as secretary of state, was also a child of Czech refugees who fled from a Nazi invasion. She used her experience growing up in communist Yugoslavia and fleeing to the U.S. to inform her work on world affairs, becoming a staunch defender of democracy and human rights.
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