What the Medal of Freedom Means to Me: Madeleine Albright

Colleen Curtis

May 30, 2012
02:12 PM EDT

What the Medal of Freedom Means to Me: Madeleine Albright

When President Obama presented Madeleine Albright with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he praised her remarkable acheivements:

As the first woman to serve as America’s top diplomat, Madeleine’s courage and toughness helped bring peace to the Balkans and paved the way for progress in some of the most unstable corners of the world. And as an immigrant herself -- the granddaughter of Holocaust victims who fled her native Czechoslovakia as a child -- Madeleine brought a unique perspective to the job. This is one of my favorite stories. Once, at a naturalization ceremony, an Ethiopian man came up to her and said, 'Only in America can a refugee meet the Secretary of State.' And she replied, 'Only in America can a refugee become the Secretary of State.'

Watch as Secretary Albright talks about her proudest accomplishments in the service of her adopted country: