Madeleine Albright saw herself as an ambassador for freedom

WHENEVER SHE was asked what advantages a woman brought to the running of foreign policy, Madeleine Albright had several answers. Women disliked head-on arguments; they preferred to sit down and talk things through. Men focused on power and position, dangerous obsessions; women focused on almost anything but that. And, being so small a minority in that men’s world, they got noticed more. She herself, short, round and blonde, was instantly recognisable the world over, and enjoyed making herself more so. When she accused Fidel Castro’s operatives of having no cojones, or called Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia a murderer, people were more startled than if a man had said it. A streak of aggression in a woman went a long way. So did sheer pizzazz. When she was nominated as secretary of state by President Bill Clinton in 1996 she wore a bright red outfit and a pearl necklace with an eagle pendant, both of which advertised her pride and joy far better than boring black could.