Great Britain and the world have lost a great leader. ... Lady Margaret Thatcher now takes her place in history alongside Sir Winston Churchill the Duke of Wellington and all the other great British heroes who defeated enemies of their island nation. An intrepid warrior for freedom and human dignity Prime Minister Thatcher stood with her noble friend President Ronald Reagan to confront the Soviet empire when it was at its peak. Her courage and steadfastness earned the respect of her fiercest foes.
It was after all the Russians who dubbed her the Iron Lady. At home Lady Thatchers free-market reforms were revolutionary -- and salutary. Using deregulation and privatization she restored Great Britain once dismissed as the sick man of Europe to its position as a world power. Indeed her policies led the way and inspired other nations -- including those in newly free Eastern Europe -- to adopt similar reforms to boost their economies.
Characteristically clear-eyed she called Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein psychopaths in a Washington speech to members of The Heritage Foundations Presidents Club on Dec. 9 2002 -- 15 months after the September 11 attacks. ... I not only had the privilege of visiting Lady Thatcher and being introduced to some of her closest allies in Britain but of returning the courtesy by introducing her to some of Heritages best friends in America. To the end as embodied in the Iron Lady age only strengthened the storied special relationship between our nations. ... We will do our best to live up to Margaret Thatchers example of principled leadership and iron will.
--Heritage Foundations former president Ed Feulner
The Gipper Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher demonstrated two great qualities. The first was that she had thought seriously about how to revive the British economy and entered office with a clear set of policies to do so. She brought down
inflation by controlling the money supply and she began removing the controls subsidies and regulations that kept business lazy.
Her second great quality was the true grit of a true Brit (or perhaps I should say of a true-blue Brit). We both realized that our policies wouldnt solve such deep-rooted problems overnight. The first effects in the world recession of 1981-82 were painful. I remember meeting her in Washington at a time when people in both our countries were calling for a change of course.
She never wavered. And she was proved right by events. ... Margaret Thatcher -- this great lady has not only served her country well she has served the free world well. She is truly a great statesman. So much so that Ill correct what I just said: She is a great stateswoman holding her own among all the statesmen of the world.
