Posted on 12/08/2006 7:56:46 AM PST by nuconvert
Jeane Kirkpatrick, Ex-Ambassador, Dies
Friday, December 08, 2006
By MERRILL HARTSON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, an unabashed apostle of Reagan era conservatism and the first woman U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has died.
The death of the 80-year-old Kirkpatrick, who began her public life as a Hubert Humphrey Democrat, was announced Friday at the senior staff meeting of the U.S. mission to the United Nations.
Spokesman Richard Grenell said that Ambassador John Bolton asked for a moment of silence. An announcement of her death also was posted on the Web site of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-oriented think tank here where she was a senior fellow.
Kirkpatrick's assistant, Andrea Harrington, said that she died in her sleep at home in Bethesda, Md. late Thursday. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Kirkpatrick's health had been in decline recently, Harrington said, adding that she was "basically confined to her house," going to work about once a week "and then less and less."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said that Kirkpatrick, who had a reputation as a blunt and acerbic advocate, "stood up for the interests of America while at the U.N., lent a powerful moral voice to the Reagan foreign policy and has been a source of wise counsel to our nation since leaving the government two decades ago. She will be greatly missed."
Karlyn H. Bowman, a colleague of Kirkpatrick's at AEI, called her "always insightful. Always interesting. Very thoughtful about modern American politics and foreign policy. A wonderful colleague."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
This woman would have made a great President.
Sad news.
She was a very impressive woman. We need more patriots like her.
In my opinion, the whole "Bush's Fault!" really is an alternate form of "Blame America First" which, of course, what Kirkpatrick famously accused the Left of doing.
Indeed, she would have.
I could almost cry. She was quite a hero to me during the Reagan years. She always stood up for human rights and against the evil of soviet communism. I will never forget her words at the 1984 convention: "They always blame America first!" Dr Kirkpatrick's words are as true today as they were then. The world is better off thanks to her service.
Yes, she would have made a great President....no doubt about it. We lost another woman this year who would have made an excellent President; former U.S. Representative Helen Chenoweth, who was killed in auto accident in Nevada on October 2nd. Both passings are depressing.
Condolences to Jeane Kirkpatrick's family and friends.
RIP
God bless Ambassador Kirkpatrick, a true lady and a true patriot.
May she rest in peace.
Much of what she produced in essays and speeches was also later to be found in Bork's "Slouching Towards Gomorrah"
OH AD Jeannie died RIP Jeannie
Do you notice that Ronnie hang out with strong women let see Bette Davis, Jane Wyman Nancy Reagan, Maggie Thatcher jeannie,
Is my history correct he gave Condi Rice her first gig back in 1980s
Oh, man that's sad news. I respected Mrs. Kirkpatrick SO much, and she did an awesome job at the UN. I consider John Bolton to be in that same mold.
I didn't realize that Helen Chenoweth had died, as well.
RIP to a great American.
A good woman, a distinguished woman.
On October 2nd, Helen Chenoweth-Hage was a passenger in a 1999 Ford Expedition driven by her daughter-in-law. Helen was enroute to Tonopah, Nevada, and had her 5 month grandson on her lap. Yelena Hage, the driver, lost control of the SUV and it rolled over. Helen was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. Helen's grandson and daughter-in-law had minor injuries.
Her husband, Wayne Hage, died in June. He was a leader of Nevada's "Sagebrush Rebellion."
She was one brilliant, tough, patriotic lady who represented America's interests without apology.
I thought about her recently when Bolton resigned, thinking that I wished we had someone like her to replace him with.
Very sad but she went while sleeping. THat is a blessing I think. She was quite a lady.
She was a great one.
Sad to say Hubert Humphrey would not recognize his party today nor would he be welcome. Kirkpatrick was not a political ideologue but knew what was the right path for America and boldly advocated it. Too bad there are so few like her.
She went to my church in Bethesda--a very conservative Presbyterian church.
I used to see her there, usually sitting in the back.
A good lady.
Yes, American Statesmen are a dying breed.
This must be turned around, we must become serious as a nation.
God bless Ambassador Kirkpatrick, a true lady and a true patriot.
Jeane Kirkpatrick (as other posters have already said) would not only have made a superb President, I daresay that she (president or not) is the American version of the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher.
In a hypothetical world, if President Kirkpatrick had been working closely with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, we would still have seen the Soviet Union defeated, and the Cold War ended with victory to the West.
And the late Ronald Reagan would have been her biggest supporter and advocate. Her appointment as U.N. Ambassador was a stroke of genius.
We are diminished by her absence, and Heaven has received a great ally.
"Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher. "
The last one left
A great lady. My condolences to the family.
I share your sorrow. Reagan and Kirkpatrick changed how I viewed America in relation to the rest of the world. It truly is a shining city on a hill. The "Blame America First" crowd lives in an intellectual and moral ghetto.
Jeane Kirkpatrick's greatest speech at the GOP Convention in 1984. Sad to say it is as relevant today as it was twenty-two years ago.
This is the first Republican Convention I have ever attended. I am grateful that you should invite me, a lifelong Democrat. On the other hand, I realize that you are inviting many lifelong Democrats to join this common cause ...
A recent article in The New York Times noted that "the foreign policy line that emerged from the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco is a distinct shift from the policies of such [Democratic] presidents as Harry S Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson." I agree ...
When the San Francisco Democrats treat foreign affairs as an afterthought, as they did, they behaved less like a dove or a hawk than like an ostrich - convinced it would shut out the world by hiding its head in the sand.
Today, foreign policy is central to the security, to the freedom, to the prosperity, even to the survival of the United States. And our strength, for which we make many sacrifices, is essential to the independence and freedom of our allies and our friends ...
The United States cannot remain an open, democratic society if we are left alone -- a garrison state in a hostile world. We need independent nations with whom to trade, to consult and cooperate. We need friends and allies with whom to share the pleasures and the protection of our civilization.
We cannot, therefore, be indifferent to the subversion of others' independence or to the development of new weapons by our adversaries or of new vulnerabilities by our friends.
The last Democratic administration did not seem to notice much, or care much or do much about these matters ...
Jimmy Carter looked for an explanation for all these problems and thought he found it in the American people. But the people knew better. It wasn't malaise we suffered from; it was Jimmy Carter -- and Walter Mondale. And so, in 1980, the American people elected a very different president. The election of Ronald Reagan marked an end to the dismal period of retreat and decline ....
The Reagan administration has helped to sustain democracy and encourage its development elsewhere. And at each step of the way, the same people who were responsible for America's decline have insisted that the president's policies would fail.
They said we could never deploy missiles to protect Europe's cities. But today Europe's cities enjoy that protection.
They said it would never be possible to hold an election in El Salvador because the people were too frightened and the country too disorganized ...
They said that saving Grenada from terror and totalitarianism was the wrong thing to do - they didn't blame Cuba or the communists for threatening American students and murdering Grenadians - they blamed the United States instead.
But then, somehow, they always blame America first.
When our Marines, sent to Lebanon on a multinational peacekeeping mission with the consent of the United States Congress, were murdered in their sleep, the "blame America first crowd" didn't blame the terrorists who murdered the Marines, they blamed the United States.
But then, they always blame America first.
When the Soviet Union walked out of arms control negotiations, and refused even to discuss the issues, the San Francisco Democrats didn't blame Soviet intransigence. They blamed the United States.
But then, they always blame America first.
When Marxist dictators shoot their way to power in Central America, the San Francisco Democrats don't blame the guerrillas and their Soviet allies, they blame United States policies of 100 years ago.
But then, they always blame America first.
The American people know better.
Prayers for her family...
We've lost another grown-up.
Godspeed, Ambassador Kirkpatrick..
I remember her fondly. May she rest in peace.
She is a great lady.
Remember her well.
May she be in heaven.
She will be missed.
at least she is now resting with the saints and angels. The nation has lost a great warrior and giant. Whenever some Hitlarryian snidely remarks that I just don't want a woman for President, I always fire back that I would have voted fo Jeanne Kirkpatrick in a moment. Of course since she held the worldview she did, she wasn't a "real" woman.
BTW, Dr. Kirkpatrick and I have/had the same literary agent, and I was supposed to have met her but then her health declined rapidly after the death of her son.
If the weenies in the Senate can't bring themselves to allow John Bolton's nomination to go to the full Senate for a vote, what makes you think they'd let someone in the mold of Jeanne Kirkpatrick through either?
Nancee
"I thought about her recently when Bolton resigned, thinking that I wished we had someone like her to replace him with."
Me too
boy,are you on the money!!!!-a woman with more backbone than half the slime in Congress-she was what Bolton must have drwn inspiration from in standing up to the third world craphole countries in the UN and the gutless eurotrash(western europe,that is-the former iron curtain countries are anything but)-i always thought she'd be a good president in the mold of Margaret Thatcher-Hillary Clinton is an obscene joke compared to them-Jean Kirkpatrick was a great American and may she rest in peace
A great lady! A hero of mine. She will be sorely missed.
Mom went to school /w this lady. RIP
I always wished Bush Sr. had moved heaven and earth to get her to accept the VP slot in 1988. The idea was floated to her and she turned it down. She would have been awesome, as she was as UN Ambassador. Rest in peace Jean, America will miss you. Say hi to your old boss Ronald Reagan for us when you get up there!
How sad, She will be in my thoughts and prayers. She was a great woman.
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