Read My Pins_ Stories From a Diplomat's Jewel Box - Madeleine Albright [14]
Atlas, Hervé van der Straeten.
III. Body Language
By the time, in early 1997, when I began serving as secretary of state, my penchant for pins had become well-known. It helped that the picture on the front of Newsweek featured me with my combination Uncle Sam’s hat and eagle. Since I was wearing brooches and getting photographed more than ever, the public’s perception of the connection grew. Due to the demands on my time, I had fewer opportunities for browsing through shops, but it didn’t matter, because everyone began giving me pins.
TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS/NEWSWEEK
Newsweek cover, February 10, 1997. Photograph by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.
When diplomats meet, it is considered only civilized to exchange gifts. Legally, American officials may retain foreign offerings that are below a certain value—in my day, $245. More expensive items become the property of the U.S. government and are displayed, stored, or sold for the benefit of the federal treasury. Another option is to purchase the present at full price, which I did on a few occasions. Some particularly large gifts, such as the handsome live horse with which I was presented in Mongolia or the endearingly vocal goat I was given in Mali, are actually retained by the hosts and, I suspect, given more than once to dignitaries passing through Ulan Bator or Bamako.
Selecting the perfect gift for a foreign minister is like finding “just the right thing” for a distant relative. The choice requires a blend of common sense, intuition, and guesswork. I generally gave mementos that reflected the United States: to men, eagle cuff links; to women, a specially made eagle pin that I signed on the back.
My gifts to foreign leaders. Foreign Minister’s eagle, Christine Harkins;
eagle cuff links, Ann Hand.
Solana’s flower, Primakov’s snowy scene, Védrine’s French design, designers unknown;
Axworthy’s maple leaf, Ann Hand.
MIKE THEILER/REUTERS
Robin Cook gave me this striking Judith Leiber lion pin. I made sure to wear it during our press conference in 2000.
MIKE THEILER/REUTERS
Scripture instructs us that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but it says nothing about which is more fun. My colleagues in the diplomatic community were pleased to assume that, in my case, a clever but inexpensive pin would always be appreciated. They were right. From British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, I was given a lion brooch; from Canada’s Lloyd Axworthy, a maple leaf; from France’s Hubert Védrine, a sparkly French design; from NATO’s Javier Solana, a delicate flower; and from Russia’s Yevgeny Primakov and Igor Ivanov, lacquer pins showing various snowy scenes hand-painted in the intricate Russian style. You might think that enough would be enough, but to an aspiring collector, every addition is exciting. When presented with a gift-wrapped box, I ripped the ribbons off with heartfelt thanks and relish. The only problem I had was remembering to wear the pin in my next meeting with the person who had given it. As my Wellesley classmate Judith Martin (Miss Manners) might have reminded me, etiquette counts.
Among my favorite gifts is one from Leah Rabin, the widow of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The pin is of a dove, symbolizing the goal—peace in the Holy Land—for which the prime minister had given his life. Like many of my predecessors, I had been reluctant to wander into the quicksand of Middle East negotiations. A series of terrorist incidents in the summer of my first year as secretary, however, left me with no choice. If leaders did not find a way to bring people together, extremists on every side would prepare for a future without peace, pointing inevitably to disaster.
AMR NABIL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
In September 1999, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (second from left) and I witnessed the signing of an interim agreement between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat.
In 1997, on August 6, I appeared before the National Press Club