With the Democrats out of power in the 1980s, Albright quickly shifted gears and divided her time between academia and Washington's political scene.

Peter F. Krogh '58, then dean of Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, hired Albright as a professor in international affairs and as director of the Women in Foreign Service Program.

"She was an excellent faculty member," Krogh says. "With lots of energy and enthusiasm, she was like a pied piper."

The classes she taught were hugely popular, and she was named best teacher in the School of Foreign Service for a record four years.

As she built her academic career, Albright gradually turned her Georgetown home into a thinktank, where she constantly hosted meetings and dinners with Democratic foreign policy makers.

In 1982, though, Albright was thrown a curve when her husband of 23 years filed for divorce.

She did not want the divorce, and a few of her close friends have since told the media that she felt some bitterness for several years afterwards.

Excluding the setback of her divorce, the 1980s saw Albright's star on the rise. During the 1984 presidential election she pitched in to help the Democratic ticket by acting as foreign policy adviser to vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.

In 1988, she stepped up to play the same role for Michael Dukakis, an assignment that put her in contact with then Ark. governor Bill Clinton, who came to Boston to help Dukakis with the presidential debates.

In 1989, Albright took over the presidency of the Center for National Policy. Robert Rubin '60, Warren Christopher and Mickey Kantor--all of whom would later serve in President Clinton's Cabinet--were among the members of the center's board. In that position, she prodded researchers to ground their analysis by using polls and opinion surveys to gauge domestic reaction.

Life in the Administration

When Clinton won in 1992, Albright's reputation in Washington made her an easy pick for ambassador to the United Nations. She made the most of the cabinet-level position by making a strong effort to be present at important meetings where the Clinton administration formulated American foreign policy. That, of course, meant frequent trips on the New York-Washington shuttle.

At the U.N. Albright developed a reputation as being straightforward and a hard bargainer. She consistently pushed to get America involved in the peace process in Bosnia.

In high level meetings she would frequently interrupt those debating abstract policy points in order to maintain a general focus.

"Madeleine is political in the best sense of the word...she knows how to get things done," Oliphant says.