(2022-0443-F) Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright and Russia

The materials in FOIA 2022-0443-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. Researchers interested in this FOIA may also want to see FOIA request 2020-0098-F. The researcher submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records related to memorandum of conversation, talking points, or briefing papers for meetings between Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian politicians. Records to be opened include transcripts and emails related to an Albright-Sandy Berger press conference, a letter to Sandy Berger from Sergey Ivanov, and administrative records related to records management. Records to be opened are from Staff and Office files and the National Security Council’s Cable, Email, and Records Management System. The collection dates from February 1997 to October 2000. Dr. Madeleine Albright was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937 and immigrated with her family to Colorado in 1948. Albright received her Ph.D. in 1975 and went to work for Senator Ed Muskie and then to the National Security Council in President Carter’s White House until 1981. She joined the faculty of Georgetown University and was in academia until President Clinton appointed her, and the Senate approved her, as United States Representative to the United Nations. Albright held that post from 1993 to 1997 when she became Secretary of State. The first woman to hold the office of Secretary of State, Albright remained in office until the end of the Clinton administration. Following her time at the Department of State Albright moved into consulting work and returned to academia. She died March 23, 2022. This case has a majority of records withheld for national security reasons.