President and Mrs Obama.
President Clinton.
Vice President Gore.
Secretaries of state members of the Cabinet, members of Congress
and friends from
Literally around the world.
Gathered on this glorious day in this magnificent cathedral.
To celebrate the extraordinary life and service of Madeleine Korbel
Albright.
To Madeline's beloved family. Her brother John and sister, Cathy.
Her daughters and Alice and Katy, her sons in law, her six grandchildren.
Thank you for sharing her with us all of these years.
Madeline and I bonded over many things, but in recent years
We bonded over the joy of being grandmothers.
Nothing made her light up like talking about all of you.
Or as bill has said, made her more determined to help build
A better, freer, safer world.
That mission, which animated her entire life never wavered.
In her last memoir.
She shared the urgency that she always felt.
She wrote. There is no shortage of worthwhile work to be done.
And no surplus of seasons in which to do it.
That is the wisdom of a woman who learned to early in life that life
is fragile.
Freedom can't be taken for granted.
Democracy must be defended. Peace must be one
And there is no time to waste doing any of that.
It is the resolve of the refugee who fled tyranny twice before the
age of 11.
And it is the determination
Of a diplomat who knew war and worked to end it.
I was privileged to know Madeleine through many seasons of our lives,
and she was always in a hurry to do good.
We first met in the 19 eighties at a benefit for the Children's Defense
Fund here in Washington.
She introduced herself.
As a fellow Wellesley College graduate.
And the seeds of our friendship were sown.
We called each other 59 69.
She was 10 years ahead of me in college.
But in some ways it might have been a different century altogether.
The commencement speaker when she graduated from Wellesley.
A former secretary of defense told the class of 1959 that
their main responsibility was to get married and raise interesting
Children.
Now. Madeline did that, of course.
But instead of resting on her maternal laurels or even resting while
her newborn twins were in the neo Natal intensive care unit
She decided presciently. It was time to learn Russian at the local
college.
Later as a professor herself, she inspired her students to share
her spirit of urgency and action.
Silence may be golden, she told them.
But it won't win Many arguments.
You have to interrupt.
This came in handy when Bill named her ambassador to the United Nations
in 1993 and then secretary of state in 1996.
Now It's been said
that I urged my husband to nominate her as our first female
secretary of state.
Unlike much that said, this story is true.
And I was thrilled when he agreed
when dictators dragged their feet or ambassadors filibustered.
Madeline never hesitated to speak up.
And just in case they didn't get the message.
She would put on a snail pin to signal her impatience.
A dozen times a day, she would ask her team what's next, turning
her boundless energy and intellect to yet another crucial
Global challenge.
She was irrepressible, wickedly funny, very stylish and always
ready for a laugh.
She brought the same energy to her friendships.
As she did to her diplomacy.
Yes, it's true.
She did teach the foreign minister of Botswana, the Macarena at a
UN Security Council meeting and snuck off early from an official
event to do the tango in Buenos Aires.
She was even invited to compete on dancing with the stars.
After she tore up the dance floor at Chelsea's wedding in the arms
I would add of a much younger, very handsome man.
She guest starred on TV shows like Gilmore Girls and Madam secretary.
In fact, she and Colin Powell of Blessed Memory, and Madeline and
I were on that series, which we all three loved and actually watched.
Add Madeleine was always making a point to the script writer that
would not have happened.
And finally, Colon said to her medal in it's fiction. It's a story.
She said. I know, but I want them to get it right.
She took me on a memorable walking tour of her beloved Prague in
the midst of a driving rainstorm.
Which left us both laughing so hard, we hardly noticed.
And we spent a memorable evening together at the home of president
and Mrs Hobble just the four of us having dinner.
And I got to listen to them talk about what it meant for their beloved
country to be free.
She met regularly with a group of former foreign ministers who were
known
As Madeline and her ex's
And yes, I just want to make it clear she really could press leg
press for £100.
When that first came out, there were Doubters.
Anyone who knew Madeline didn't but not everyone had that great pleasure.
And so she made it very clear by going to her gym as soon as the
article came out to do it again so that people would know yes.
She did.
And she mentored the next generation of women leaders.
Through vital voices and organization that she and I helped to start
back in the late nineties and the Albright Institute at her beloved
Wellesley College.
She relished her annual journey north to Wellesley, outside of Boston
each winter.
To meet with the institute's fellows came from all corners of the
globe to hear from experts to think critically, about our biggest
challenges and to prepare
For central roles in solving them.
And very often she would call me when she returned with just such
enthusiasm in her voice about the young women that she had just spent
time with.
And what they were going to do in the future.
She led the American delegation to the historical UN Conference on
Women in Beijing in 1995.
And she urged me to push the envelope on women's rights in the speech
I delivered there. She also came with us the next day about
45 minutes outside of Beijing to wear the non governmental organizations
and the activists had been sent
and where we in the midst of a driving rain, another
Driving rain with me and Madeline waited through the mud.
Trying to avoid the security from the Chinese government who were
not happy that Madeline and I were there in order to speak to those
women.
Who would go home across the world to spread the message that women's
rights are human rights. She never blinked. She just pulled herself
up to her full height, which I never believed was five ft. But
However high it was she took every inch and every part of her spine
was a straight as a steel bar.
And just looked at the security people and said, Get out of our way.
We're going to our meeting.
She didn't just help other women.
She spent her entire life counseling and cajoling.
Inspiring and lifting up so many of us who are here today.
So
The Angels.
Better be wearing their best pins.
And putting on their dancing shoes.
Because if, as Madeline believed, there's a special place in hell
for women who don't support other women, they haven't seen anyone
like her yet.
Yeah.
And yes, on top of all that.
She continued to issue blunt warnings about the dangers posed by
authoritarianism and fascism with undeniable moral clarity.
Until the end, she was still in a hurry to do good.
As Bill said during the last phone call two weeks before she died.
She talked about the importance of what President Biden is doing
to rally the world.
Against Putin's horrific invasion of Ukraine and the urgent work
of defending democracy at home and around the world.
She knew better than most, and she warned us in her book on Fascism.
That? Yes, it can happen here.
And time and courage are of the essence.
The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season and a time
and purpose under heaven.
A time to weep.
And a time to laugh.
If Madeline, we're here with us today, she would also remind us this
must be a season of action.
And yes, Once again, we must heed the wisdom of her life and the
cause of her public service.
Stand up to dictators and demagogues from the battlefields of Ukraine
to the halls of our own capital.
Defend democracy at home just as vigorously as we do abroad.
Live up to the ideals of the country that welcomed
An 11 year old refugees sailing into New York Harbor on a ship called
S S. America.
And made her secretary of state.
Let us honor Matalin's life and legacy by being the indispensable
nation she loved and served.
And let us live as she did.
In a hurry to do the most good we can with every season under heaven.
God speed 59.
God Bless you, Dear Madeline.