Jeane Kirkpatrick (1926-2006)

Jeane Kirkpatrick, the first female Ambassador to the United Nations (appointed by Ronald Reagan), died today at the age of 80. Ambassador Kirkpatrick is among the people who heightened my interest in politics and was an early architect and leader of Neoconservativism (which typically means to convert to conservativism from some other ideology) and who came to prominence in the 1980s. Kirkpatrick was a Democrat for many years and, like her boss Ronald Reagan, she believed that party left her by falling into a far left, largely anti-American, ideology.

She was particularly critical of the policies of Jimmy Carter, which she believed were horribly inconsistent (mainly critical of small countries that violated human rights while ignoring far more abusive super powers) and extremely weak, leading to the decline of US prestige around the world. She was a courageous defender of the US in the UN and among the best friends of freedom the world knew through the 80s. She was a major force in the restoration of US prestige and played a significant role in winning the cold war. Jeane Kirkpatrick will be greatly missed and her contributions long remembered.