Happy 80th Birthday Margaret Thatcher!

A royal and star studded affair in London last night on the occasion of Margaret Thatcher's 80th birthday (story here). Photos from the event here.

The honor of the toast went to the Rt Hon Michael Howard, Leader of the Conservative Party who said:

"I am delighted to congratulate Margaret Thatcher on the achievement of her eightieth birthday.

"We have reflected this year on how Winston Churchill's political will and iron courage saved a nation.

"What Churchill did in wartime Margaret Thatcher did in peacetime. Her political will and her iron courage saw off the threats to our way of life that Britain faced in 1979. We all owe her an enormous debt. I wish her well for her birthday and for many years to come."

Amen!

The years are starting to catch up with Lady Thatcher, who has suffered a series of small strokes the past few years. But I will always remember her last State visit to see President Reagan at the White House, on November 16, 1988. Witnessing firsthand the obvious warmth and chemistry between these two lions of the 20th Century was a rare treat. I took the following photograph:

Larger image here.

If you would like to view the cover of the program for the State welcoming ceremony, I put my copy online here.

Twelve years later, I happened to see Lady Thatcher again as I was walking through Belgrave Square in London. Imagine my surprise when a motorcade rounded the square and Margaret Thatcher popped out of a green Jaguar and bounded up the steps to her home, followed by husband Denis.

None of those who admired her friendship for President Reagan and the United States in the cause of freedom and peace, and prosperity will forget her eulogy, delivered by video at Presdident Reagan's funeral (Real Player format here, text here).

For more on the Thatcher legacy, read:

Reflections on the "Thatcher Factor" from the London Times:

Only one man in a thousand, Groucho Marx observed, is a leader of men, the other 999 follow women. In an accidental sense, therefore, the great wit anticipated the life and career of Margaret Thatcher. Her 80th birthday party last night was, understandably, an occasion for nostalgia. Her impact was and is such, however, that it may be decades hence before it is appreciated. If she had merely been the dominant political figure of the 1980s, that would have been enough to earn her an honoured place in history. Yet Thatcherism is not solely a product of history and, in an often complicated way, it continues to shape our own politics and the world beyond us.

Read the rest here.