Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is no stranger to Tempe's Changing Hands Bookstore.
With some carefully placed phone calls and a little convincing, the marketing department has been able to finagle her entourage into stopping by for book signings and discussions twice before.
But when Albright was scheduled to come to the Valley for a Democratic fundraising event Saturday, it was her people that called their people.
"She loves our store; she loves the people who work here," said Cindy Dach, Changing Hands' marketing director. "There was no way she could go to Arizona and not go to her favorite bookstore."
Albright - small in stature but great in presence - spoke to around 250 people about her latest book, "The Mighty and the Almighty," in which she discusses the critical role religion must play in successful foreign policy.
"I'm thrilled with it, and people have been very, very interested in discussing various parts of it," Albright said.
The book is Albright's second, following her autobiography "Madame Secretary," a best-seller.
But unlike her first book, Albright said, for "The Mighty and the Almighty" she could not draw solely from personal experience.
"This has certainly been a learning process for me," she told the audience.
Albright came from a school of thought that dictated God and politics be separate entities, she said. Now she believes religion may be the path to remedying many of the world's problems.
"I think there are a lot of people who are basically feeling we're at war with Islam or there's a clash of civilizations," Albright said. "I think that it is more a clash of ignorance in many ways."
While conducting research for her book, Albright said she discovered that religions have key similarities. Once diplomats realize this, religion can be a powerful tool.
She also discussed fears that the United States has lost its moral authority over prisoner-abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, that Iraq would likely turn out to be one of the greatest foreign-policy disasters in U.S. history and that President Bush is an anomaly in terms of his relationship with God.
Whereas many former presidents, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton - both of whom she has worked with - were religious men, Bush is the first to really make his beliefs foreign policy, she said.
"He has made it seem as if to pick a fight with us is to pick a fight with God," Albright added.
Before greeting the audience, Albright - who has taught at Georgetown University for many years - said she has great faith in younger generations and their commitment to the United States.
"I think our hope is in young people," she said. "There is a sense of service to the country."
She added, "I think teaching is a great career. … In some ways it's just a responsibility to teach about what we did. … It's really honest work."
Audience members asked the former secretary of state about Iraq, special-interest groups and what Americans could do to counteract Bush-administration policies that have affected the country's image abroad.
To the latter, she responded, "Well I do have a simple answer, but it will take two years," prompting a round of applause and cheers.
"I was glad that she actually, sincerely answered questions," said political science junior Katie McNeil as she clung to a copy of "The Mighty and the Almighty." "Now that she's not in office she can be a little more honest.
"I think it's really important to have somebody like her talk to the people."
Before stopping discussion to sign copies of her book, Albright read a passage from it.
"We are not above the law; nor do we have a divine calling to spread democracy any more than we have a national mission to spread Christianity," Albright read. "We have, in short, the right to ask - but never to insist or blithely assume - that God bless America."
Reach the reporter at rkost@asu.edu.
