Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection

In August 2024, the National Museum of American Diplomacy (NMAD) opened Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection, an exhibit featuring a selection of stories and pins from Secretary Albright’s famed collection.

Shortly after becoming a diplomat, Albright discovered the power of jewelry to convey a foreign policy message. She began selecting appropriate pins to wear to particular meetings and events. Before long, they became her diplomatic signature on the world stage.

The Albright Collection consists of pins that Secretary Albright wore before, during, and after her years of public service. Many are from anonymous designers and were selected for the signals they sent and the spirit they conveyed. The pins serve as gentle implements of statecraft, and their stories and messages reflect the Secretary’s sense of humor and humanity.

Read My Pins traveled to twenty-two museums and presidential libraries from 2009 to 2018. The version now on display only in the upper level of the pavilion at NMAD includes a selection of more than 60 pins and their stories from the traveling exhibit. It will remain on display for the foreseeable future.

Below are a few of the stories on display:

Explore the Pins

The Serpent’s Tale

When U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright criticized Saddam Hussein and his oppressive regime frequently. Saddam Hussein’s poet-in-residence responded by calling her an “unparalleled serpent.” Albright subsequently decided to make a diplomatic statement by wearing a snake pin when meeting with Iraqi government officials. Although her method of communication was new, her message harkened back to the American Revolution – Don’t Tread on Me! From that day on, the pins became part of her diplomatic signature.

Weapons of Micro-Destruction

Vladamir Putin confided to Bill Clinton that Russian diplomats routinely checked to see which brooch Albright decided to wear. On the first day of difficult discussions involving nuclear arms, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov looked at her arrow-like pin for the day and inquired, “Is that one of your interceptor missiles?” She replied, “Yes and as you can see, we know how to make them very small. So you’d better be ready to negotiate.”

King of the Beasts

The lion serves as a symbol of power since the days of ancient Greece. Syria’s formidable President Hafez al-Assad took considerable pride in the fact that, in Arabic, his name meant “lion.” For her first meeting with Assad, Albright wore this lion pin, thinking it might put the president in a more forthcoming frame of mind; it didn’t.

View the Entire Read My Pins Collection Online

This exhibit is only a selection of 61 pins out of the over 200 pins in the collection. Secretary Albright pledged to donate the complete collection to NMAD. The full exhibit will become part of the museum’s permanent collection when its gallery space is completed. In the meantime, you can explore the full collection online in our exclusive online exhibit of the pins.

Acknowledgements

A sincere thank you to Elaine Shocas, Jacob Freedman, and the Albright family for their collaboration on this exhibit.