Thanks, Ivan. Please consider adding some words of your own for Mrs. Reagan. I specifically pinged you mindful of the great friendship and partnership between President Reagan and your former Prime Minister Thatcher. I think it would be wonderful to have some comments from an "average" British citizen on this thread.
It's very rare to witness greatness. Usually greatness is a quality confined to the musty corridors of history. We read about it, watch documentaries, our witnessing of it is usually secondhand. However, we lived in an era in which greatness was personified in two individuals, Mrs. Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. I can still cast my mind back to the 1980's, and though I was quite young, I can remember the sense of the Western World being in a safe pair of hands. I can remember how my political consciousness was formed around the ideals they espoused: liberty, limited government, standing firm for civilisation. I can remember being inspired by them...wanting to emulate the manly virtues that President Reagan had in abundance, and the strength and integrity both the President and the Prime Minister possessed.
The 80's were a fair time, and I live every day in the afterglow of that era, remembering that the principles that President Reagan and Mrs. Thatcher held then, are still true today.
Now a word about Mrs. Reagan. Behind every great man, it is said, is a great woman. This has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in the eyes of the world. I sincerely doubt that Reagan could have found the strength to change the world and liberate millions, if he did not have the love of his wife and her gentle virtues to turn to.
Regards, Ivan