Madeleine Albright Brings Pin Diplomacy to Santa Ana
The former secretary of state launched a Read My Pins exhibit in the Orange County city.
Lucy Noland
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright brought her unique take on jewelry and diplomacy to Santa Ana. A new exhibit at the Bowers Museum displays her wide array of pins that she wore when she met with world leaders. Lucy Noland reports from Santa Ana for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2012.
When Madeleine Albright served as UN ambassador from 1993 to 1997 and as secretary of state from 1997 until 2001, she brought more than words and documents to her high level meetings. She brought pins. And she believes they made a statement.
The bee meant she was in a bad mood. The snake pin was reserved for Saddam Hussein, who called her an "unparalleled serpent."
Albright's new exhibit, "Read My Pins," opens Saturday at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. She was in Southern California Thursday night to take a look at the Bowers layout and to meet museum supporters at a VIP event.
She also offered NBC4 some observations about the trials that one of her successors, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is going through.
"Everybody knows I loved being Secretary, except on Aug. 7, 1998, when our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were hit," Albright said. "And by the way, the people that did that have just been sentenced as I understand it. But I said, we had an investigation, I took responsibility, I think that when you're running a department you do that."
These days, Albright watches world events from a greater distance. But she still enjoys those pins, and how they might have affected the course of history.
The "Read my Pins" exhibit begins Saturday and continues through Jan. 13, 2013 at the Bowers Museum.
