Leaked embassy cable: what the Americans thought of Thatcher

The Spectator (UK) ^ | 12/1/10 | Peter Hoskin

[Riflema]

Forget the children of Thatcher, here's what the Americans were saying about the Iron Lady herself when she became Tory party leader.

...2. Margaret Thatcher has blazed into national prominence almost literally from out of nowhere

...8. Footnote: Mrs Thatcher has had no real experience in foreign affairs and has given no evidence of any interest in the field

[Riflema]

Well worth a read for those of us who were around for this in 1975. Maggie was to some a figure of fun at that time ("Thatcher, Thatcher Milk Snatcher"). So thanks to Assange we now have this document relating the US Embassy's take on the new Tory leader.

Read it and then read it again with "Palin" substituted. Agreed some of the comps are off ("upper middle class" etc), but for the impact of the driven and principaled outsider on the establishment it gives food for thought.

[Indy Pendance]

"Mrs Thatcher has had no real experience in foreign affairs and has given no evidence of any interest in the field"

Kind of sounds like a woman here in the US today.

[jazminerose]

Ahhh, Lady Thatcher, what an amazing leader. Such courage & grace.

Yes, I do see the parallels with Palin.

[nkycincinnatikid]

I remember 1975 and shudder.
The Democratic Putsch in America resulted in the lowest point point in our history.
The USA was in abject retreat on every continent and every sea.
It was the midnight before the morning of Reagan.

[submarinerswife]

Forget the children of Thatcher, here's what the Americans were saying about the Iron Lady

What does this mean? Did Lady Thatcher's children write a nasty "Mommy Dearest" book about her?

[KarlInOhio]

I wonder if this long analysis was typical of the State Department in the 1970s or if this was the exception. The more recent leaked memos seemed to focus on the shallow and the snarky, but I don't know if that is how they are across the board, or only that's how they appear when filtered by the press. Has the State Department stumbled into complete adolescent incompetence or does it just appear that way from a few examples?

[norge]

The Democratic Putsch in America resulted in the lowest point point in our history.

Until now...(in the event no one has said it yet).

[submarinerswife]

I remember 1975

Me too. Bugs Bunny on Saturday morning cartoons, a 2nd grade teacher with terribly bad breath, Holly Hobby was my favorite doll and being 7 years old meant I went to bed at 8 pm.

(ducking for cover)

[Calvin Locke]

I knew a couple of Brits at the time, probably around 1983. They'd
mostly snort in derision at Thatcher's husband. Dennis, was it?

The other thing I recall is that Reagan and Thatcher had a falling out
over GE (GEC in the UK) compressor technology that was going
to be used for the USSR-to-Europe gas pipeline project, and that
Europe was going to overpay for the methane.

[Indy Pendance]

I’m a couple years older, I remember 10th grade, getting my driver’s license, and the start of gas lines. I remember people getting to the gas stations at night, sleeping in their cars to fill up in the morning.

[Cicero]

Mrs Thatcher has had no real experience in foreign affairs and has given no evidence of any interest in the field

Translation: Maggie didn't get brainwashed by the jerks at Georgetown and Harvard. She doesn't understand how to surrender gracefully.

[billhilly]

It was, and is, prudent to know both your friends and your enemies. Every asset this country had was constantly evaluating Soviet Leaders for their possible weaknesses and their strengths. The same is true of our allies’ leaders.

[I am Richard Brandon]

"Translation: Maggie didn't get brainwashed by the jerks at Georgetown and Harvard. She doesn't understand how to surrender gracefully."

You are my man!

[SandRat]

Read it all and was thinking the same thing.

[Hotlanta Mike]

Isn’t this the same type of tripe being spewed by the LSM about Sarah Palin. They better get over their obsession with demonizing her, otherwise in 2 years they will have unwittingly helped to get her elected to depose the devil incarnate currently holding office.

[SandRat]

submarinerswife, in 75 I had been married for 5 years, on active duty for 4, and headed for Germany for 3 more years acive service.

You just reminded me of how old I am.

[submarinerswife]

You just reminded me of how old I am.

Not old, just older.

[SandRat]

SSSSSSSsssssssshhhHHHHH! Don't tell the LSM but, they are through their actions against Sarah going to get her elected; just like the British press did for Maggie.

[henry_reardon]

GE is not GEC. I worked for GEC in the UK at the time. GEC was IIRC formed from an amalgamation of English Electric and British Thompson-Hueston.

[Riflema]

Even better: go to youtube and pull up pretty well any Thatcher speech. Concentrate on the words, then think of Palin saying them. To me the resemblence is uncanny. Another nice resemblence is the way in which the establishment's antibodies in the media and commentariat swarmed Thatcher in the way they are swarming Palin... with any luck to the same end