Biden pays tribute to Albright: ‘She turned the tide of history’

President Biden on Wednesday mourned former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as a “force of nature” whose diplomatic career strengthened the U.S. and has had a lasting effect on the foreign service.

“With her goodness and grace, her humanity and her intellect, she turned the tide of history,” Biden said in a eulogy for Albright, who died last month at the age of 84.

Biden was joined at the Washington National Cathedral by former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Obama and former Vice President Al Gore.

In his remarks honoring Albright, Biden spoke of her pivotal role in helping guide U.S. foreign policy through pivotal years after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union had collapsed.

The president noted he’d heard Albright had died while he was en route to Europe to meet with allies in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When Biden spoke in Poland, he said, the mention of Albright’s name drew a “deafening 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. “Madeleine never minced words or wasted time when she saw something needed fixing or someone who needed helping. She just got to work.”

Albright served as secretary of State from 1997 to 2001 and was the first woman to hold the position. She immigrated to the U.S. from then-Czechoslovakia as a child, and she also served as ambassador to the United Nations.

Many guests at Wednesday’s service wore pins on their lapels. Albright was known for wearing colorful and noticeable pins and brooches throughout her career, many of which will be on display in 2024 at the National Museum of American Diplomacy at the State Department in Washington.

Biden credited Albright with inspiring a generation of women to enter the foreign service and ensuring that women would be represented in national security decisions.

“She could go toe-to-toe with the toughest dictators then turn around and literally teach a fellow ambassador how to do the Macarena on the floor of the U.N. Security Council,” Biden said.

“She thought it was too difficult to teach me how to dance, though,” he quipped. “She was right.”