Lady Thatcher is 80 today, and still "does not intend to mess about" (my favorite quotation of hers). Of the many things I honor her for, one I will never forget is her marvelous eulogy at Reagan's funeral and how she attended --in failing health herself-- both the East & West Coast services.
Here's an overview of her life. And her 1988 "Bruges Speech" about Britain's relationship to Europe. Reading it, you understand again what a terrible symbol it is that Europe couldn't bring itself to mention the word "Christianity" in its draft constitution, and you see her prescience about the direction of the EEU. All this the year before the wall fell. And if you've ever wondered what meetings between heads of state at Camp David are like, here's a rough account of a Reagan-Thatcher confab in 1984. You'll like Reagan's joke at the beginning, and the rest is revealing. UPDATE: Ninme found a cool slide-show from the Beeb.
