My God I love this Lady! I am reading all of the letters between her and Reagan - what a team! How lucky the world is that she came to power in Britain when she did, and found such a political soul-mate in RR. Throw in everything that the Pope did, and you have the winning team that beat communism.
Private Meeting: The President and Mrs. Thatcher, Plus Notetakers:
After exchanging pleasantries, Mrs. Thatcher praised the President’s reelection, calling it a fantastic victory.
Mrs. Thatcher emphasized that the President’s victory was even more impressive given that he had so significantly changed U.S. policies. Such a wide victory was an endorsement of the President’s policies and a clear call for a continuation of these policies. She was pleased the President was keeping his same foreign policy, noting it made no sense to break-up a good team.
The President said he was pleased that, without exchanging a word in advance, Mrs. Thatcher had taken the same line with Gorbachev as he had followed in his September meeting with Gromyko. He had spoken about the communist desire to dominate the world. In reply, Gromyko suggested that the Soviets had acted with constraint since they could have, but did not send a mass of men into Western Europe after World War II. The President noted that in reply he had referred to Stalin ’s remarks that there would have been no victory without the U.S. The President also referred Gromyko to quotations from Lenin and Stalin about world domination by communism. This time, Gromyko did not reply but quickly changed the subject.
The President continued that he was simply amazed how closely Mrs. Thatcher’s remarks to Gorbachev had accorded with what he told Gromyko. He had made similar points, said the President, on immigration restrictions, underscoring that these restrictions make it especially difficult for the U.S. – with its many political groups with ties to the old country – to improve relations with the Soviets.