The Brown & White

Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton, rallied support for democratic presidential nominee Sen. Hillary Clinton Wednesday in Lewis Laboratory.

"I'm here to support Hillary in Pennsylvania because this is not only the Keystone State, but it is also the key to what is about to happen in the upcoming presidential election," Albright said.

Albright, who was once the highest ranking female official in the U.S., said whoever wins the presidential election will face many difficult tasks.

"The world is a mess," she said. "I've never seen things so bad."

Albright said the next president will have to deal with five major issues: terrorism, a growing nuclear weapons problem, restoration of democracy's good name, negative aspects of globalization and global warming.

Speaking on the issue of terrorism and the war in Iraq, Albright drew from her own experience to explain the difficult situation the U.S. faces.

"When I served in government during the Cold War, our enemy, the Soviet Union, was rational and had a defined body to protect," she said. "Now we are dealing with non-state actors, who can take actions without fear of any of the consequences."

Albright said the government needs to stop the present terrorists, but also be very careful that, in the process, they do not create new generation of terrorists.

But, she also said addressing the perpetrators as terrorists gives them a mythological status among their people.

"We need to call them murderers because that is all that they are," Albright said.

Albright also discussed the current state of democracy in the U.S. and in the world.

She said the U.S. needs to restore the good name of democracy that she said President George W. Bush has damaged.

Albright said Bush takes a one-dimensional view of diplomacy by focusing his efforts on the Middle East and attempting to fix diplomatic problems with just the military.

She said by trying to impose democracy on Iraq, Bush created unintended consequences, like diplomatic tensions with Iran and Pakistan.

"International diplomacy is not like chess ? it's more like billiards," she said. "You hit the ball, and you hit a lot of other balls along the way."

Albright said Clinton is the best possible choice for president because she is abundant in diplomatic experience and understands Iraq's neighboring countries' interests are at stake as well.

"She has a deliberate approach to learning in-depth about issues and you can count on her to make informed decisions," she said.

Nina Greenberry, '08, said she was happy to learn Sen. Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama had similar opinions about the war.

"I'm glad to see that the Democrats have a similar stance on the war," she said. "They shouldn't be divided on the issues."

Albright said Clinton will bring a woman's perspective to the presidency.

"Generally women are much clearer in doing a project and not just talking about doing it," she said. "Plus women are extremely good at multi-tasking."

Albright said she is supporting Clinton not because she served under her husband, but because she believes Clinton is what the U.S. needs in a president right now.

"I would be for her no matter what," she said. "I think she presents the profile of a can-do person who works hard to learn about the issues and will follow through with her promises to the people."

Lehigh professor Chuck Smith said he enjoyed hearing a presentation from such a distinguished diplomat.

"She's a very impressive woman and she made a great case for Hillary," Smith said.

Cameron Copeland, '08, said he respected Albright's perspective but would have rather heard the comments directly from Sen. Clinton.

"It just doesn't have the same impact on me as much as it would have had I heard Hillary," Copeland said.

Albright, born in the Czech Republic and a graduate of Wellesley College, she now teaches at Georgetown University.