Madeleine Albright On John Kerry: He's 'Eminently Suited' For Challenges Of Job
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says the man who now holds her old position, John Kerry, has been doing a "very hard job" at an especially complex time.
Albright spoke to WCBS 880's Pat Carroll ahead of her Thursday lecture at Fairleigh Dickinson University's New Jersey Speaker Series at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.
When she served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, Albright faced crises in Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda.
Full Interview With Madeleine Albright
Today's challenges include the Islamic State extremist group in Syria and Iraq, Ebola and Ukraine.
"I think it is obviously a huge responsibility in terms of representing America's national interest and, at the same time, trying to understand what is going on in other countries in order to be able to solve the problems," Albright said of serving as secretary of state.
"Also very much the question is to whether you travel around to solve the issues or work within Washington, and he (Kerry) has to do both. So it's a very hard job, but one that he is eminently suited for because he has a really good, long-term understanding of these problems."
Albright said the fact that Kerry was able to form a coalition of Arab nations to help with U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State is "really remarkable because it's in an area where we know there are already a lot of differences, and he has managed to get this group of countries together in order to understand the threat of ISIL."
To listen to the full interview, click the audio link above.
The subscription-only New Jersey Speaker Series, sponsored by WCBS 880, will run through April 23. Other lecturers scheduled include actor Alan Alda, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and former "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather. For more information on the series, click here.
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