The New York Times best-selling memoir of former secretary of state now in paperback. In this outspoken and much-praised memoir, the highest-ranking woman in American history shares her remarkable story and provides an insiders view of world affairs during a period of unprecedented turbulence. A national bestseller on its first publication in 2003, Madam Secretary combines warm humor with profound insights and personal testament with fascinating additions to the historical record. Includes a new preface written especially for this edition. Madeleine Albright, born in Prague, was confirmed as the sixty-fourth secretary of state in 1997. Her distinguished career in government includes positions in the National Security Council, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and on Capitol Hill. She lives in Washington, D.C., and Virginia.