Margaret Thatcher, Britain's Iron Lady, died on this day in 2013. A towering leader, she knew what she stood for, knew what needed to be done, and knew it could be done -- much like her friend Ronald Reagan.

◼ via John Boehner

"A man's right to work as he will, to spend what he earns, to own property, to have the state as servant and not as master, they are the essence of a free economy, and on that freedom all our other freedoms depend."

- Margaret Thatcher

How A Texan Stole Margaret Thatcher's Funeral

◼ Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher cherished her 19-year old granddaughter Amanda, who after the divorce of her father Mark Thatcher, ended up in Texas. She now attends college in Virginia. Observers inside and outside of St. Paul's Cathedral say AMANDA stole the show at the funeral by reading this prescient and almost urgent scriptural passage as a tribute to, and a reminder from, her Grandmother: - Kitchen Cabinet

Ephesians 6:10-18

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Thatcher Passes

◼ A long-time Reagan aide recalls an enduring friendship. - Peter Hannaford on 4.8.13

On the news of Margaret Thatcher’s passing, several television commentators asked variations of the question that followed Ronald Reagan’s nearly nine years ago: “When will see another like her again? The answer in both case is, “never.” Both were sui generis — one of a kind.

They had several things in common: well-developed character, clear policy objectives, articulate expression and, most of all, determination to succeed. From the moment they first met, in April 1975, it is as if they had been friends and allies for years. I know. I was there.

It was barely three months since the end of his second term as Governor of California. Our new office was in Los Angeles. He had been invited to address the annual meeting of the Pilgrim Society in London in April. This group celebrated British-American cohesion based on the historic voyage of the pilgrims to New England. A mutual friend arranged for Mr. Reagan to call on Mrs. Thatcher the next day. He was looking forward to it with great enthusiasm. He was not disappointed.

The Conservative Party had done little to reverse economic malaise. Now, the Labour government was intent on enlarging the already large role of welfare statism. Margaret Thatcher, to put it mildly, disagreed. At Oxford (where her academic major was chemistry) she had been influenced by Friedrich von Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom with its message that rampant state intervention leads to authoritarian government. In 1959, she won a seat in Parliament.

Ronald Reagan first met her just after she had challenged and defeated Edward Heath for the Conservative Party’s chairmanship. We called on her in her office in the Parliament building. Her reception room was barely large enough for two of them and one aide each, Derek Howe for Mrs. Thatcher and myself.

The two had heard and read so much about each other that they immediately fell into comparing notes on the shortcomings of government in their respective countries: undue regulation, growth-stunting tax policies, lack of encouragement of individual initiative. They even found they had similar childhood living arrangements. Thatcher, a grocer’s daughter, was raised in a flat above one of her father’s two stores. Reagan, the son of a shoe salesman, was born in a flat above a bakery across the street from the store.

After an hour or so. Mrs. Thatcher had to excuse herself for another meeting; however, she had arranged for us to meet with several of her colleagues in a conference room on another floor.
What ensued was a fast-moving and cheerful session with Sir Keith Joseph, Mrs. Thatcher’s theoretical “strong right arm,” Geoffrey Howe (later to become foreign secretary), and two or three other free-market Conservative MPs.

Three and a half years later, in November 1978, the principals met again, on the eve of Mrs. Thatcher’s party winning the government and her becoming Britain’s first women (and, ultimately, longest-serving) prime minister. For Ronald Reagan, this was the first stop on a listen-and-learn trip to European capitals as a prelude to his 1980 campaign.

By now she had a slightly larger office and the reception room could hold the same four people, plus Richard Allen (who become President Reagan’s first National Security Advisor). This time much of the discussion was on Soviet expansionism and defense measures. She emphasized the fact that Soviet SS-20 intermediate-range ballistic missiles were aimed at every Western European capital.

This sunk in with Reagan. Later that year, he would visit NORAD, the U.S. early-warning system in a Colorado mountain that could spot an IBM fired toward the U.S. Then, after a briefing about the Carter Administration’s new treaty based on Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), he said what we needed instead, was START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks). And, as president in early 1983 he orchestrated acceptance of U.S. missile defense systems to protect Western European capitals. This would prove to be an important step in his carefully planned strategy to bring the Cold War to a successful conclusion.

Their friendship endured through all the years shared years in office and beyond. In 2004, she, by now Baroness Thatcher, gave one of the most eloquent eulogies at Ronald Reagan’s funeral. Each imparted strengths to the friendship: he charisma and an understanding of how to use U.S. strength in the world; she, intellectual rigor. Both were natural leaders.
__________________
Peter Hannafordwas closely associated for a number of years with the late President Reagan, beginning in the California Governor’s office. His latest book is “Presidential Retreats”.

R.I.P Margaret Thatcher IRON LADY DIES IN LONDON

◼ Margaret Thatcher, former British prime minister, dead at 87 - Washington Post

◼ Britain's first and only female prime minister Margaret Thatcher dies peacefully at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke. - Sky News ◼ Via Drudge

Lady Thatcher's children Mark and Carol said their mother, who suffered bouts of ill health in recent years, died peacefully on Monday morning.

Downing Street, which joined Buckingham Palace in flying its flags at half mast, said the politician would be given a full ceremonial funeral with honours at St Paul's Cathedral.

Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes from around the world, calling the former Tory leader "a great prime minister, a great leader, a great Briton".

Drudge headlines:
◼ THATCHER: 'Towering, divisive, revered' - NYT

Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” of British politics who pulled her country back from 35 years of socialism, led it to victory in the Falklands war and helped guide the United States and the Soviet Union through the cold war’s difficult last years, died Monday. She was 87.

◼ Staunch US ally in Cold War victory - Washington Times
◼ Global champion of free markets - Guardian uk
◼ 'The PM Who Changed the World' (Video, autoplays) - Guardian uk
◼ NO STATE FUNERAL - AP
◼ Tributes pour in: live reaction and updates
◼ "Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the grocer’s daughter whose overpowering personality, bruising political style and free-market views..."
"... transformed Britain and transfixed America through the 1980s, died Monday after a stroke, her spokesman said in a statement. She was 87." - Althouse
◼ The Iron Lady Passes On - Terresa Monroe-Hamilton/New Zeal

It is with a heavy heart and genuine grief that I found out this morning that Maggie Thatcher passed away from a stroke. The world has lost a great, great soul and someone I looked up to. Heaven has gained a warrior and we have lost an angel.

◼ We lost a giant for freedom and human dignity. - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion
◼ "'Tramp the dirt down': George Galloway's extraordinarily crass tweet...leads the Left’s sickening 'celebration' just minutes after Baroness Thatcher’s death." - Althouse
◼ Although the internet was flooded with tributes to the Iron Lady, it also showcased venom for Britain's first and only female political leader. - Daily Mail.uk



◼ REST IN PEACE, MARGARET THATCHER - David Harsanyi/Human Events @davidharsanyi
◼ Thatcher and “saving” the West - neo-neocon

RIP Margaret Thatcher!Tell Ronnie we miss him!

— Jennifer (@JenKnapp) April 8, 2013

◼ Quotes of the day - Allahpundit/HotAir

...she seemed to be having so much fun. That, I think, is what they never forgave her for. Thatcher laughed at them, mocked them, outwitted and out-debated them. That infuriated the Left: Conservatives aren’t supposed to mock, they are supposed to be mocked. They might be allowed to win a few elections, but they could never be allowed to win the argument, much less to scoff at liberals’ public pieties.

Thatcher won, in no small part because she was her own best case. Her confidence, prudence, good humor, and other virtues were those she sought to encourage in her fellow countrymen…

As we celebrate the remarkable life of Margaret Thatcher, it is fitting that we remember the most important aspect of it: She won, and she deserved to win. Those who opposed her and reviled her were on the wrong side of the most important question of their age, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with tyrants, many of them as guilty as those who manned the gulag watchtowers. And even today, when they make their pilgrimages to sit at the feet of Castro or bury Chávez, when they put leftist terrorists on their payrolls, they know: They lost. What they do not know, because they are incapable of understanding the fact, is that they deserved to lose. We should not allow them to pretend that they were on the right side all along.