Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright died at age 84 on Wednesday, her family announced in a statement.
Appointed by former president Bill Clinton in 1997, Albright was the first female U.S. secretary of state.
“We are heartbroken to announce that Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, the 64th Secretary of State and the first woman to hold that position, passed away earlier today. The cause was cancer,” her family said. “We have lost a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend.”
The statement lauded Albright as “a tireless champion of democracy and human rights.”
