Margaret Thatcher RIP

Now all three of the 1980s icons are gone. Margaret Thatcher passed away this morning at the age of 87.

She, Ronald Reagan, and Pope John Paul II were the three great warriors for peace in the 1980s. I don't ever recall a world without her serving as the preeminent female role model, really, role model for any conservative leader.

She will be remembered for her sterling "Iron Lady" credentials at a time of weakness in Great Britain.

Infuriated by Britain’s image as the “sick old man of Europe,” she set out to dismantle Britain’s cradle-to-grave welfare state, selling off scores of massive state-owned industries, crushing the power of organized labor and cutting government spending with the purpose of liberating the nation from what she called a “culture of dependency.”

Ah, the world could use another, but there never be a leader quite like her. It is remarkable that over two generations ago, she rose through Tory ranks to assume a position of leadership in the party. That was nearly forty years ago! She was a sterling symbol of liberty, heroic in her toughness, yet was willing to broker for peace when she met Gorbachev. Her words, unspoken, are some of the most enduring from her friend Ronnie's funeral nearly a decade ago.

Rest in Peace.