Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, R.I.P.

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick died late Thursday at her home in Bethesda, MD. Kirkpatrick, who the AP called "an unabashed apostle of Reagan era conservatism," served as UN ambassador under Reagan.

Kirkpatrick most recently served as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
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US Senators on Kirkpatrick

Sen. Mitch McConnell:

“Few people did more to win the Cold War than Jeane Kirkpatrick, and few can match the courage that she brought to defending freedom and American interests around the world. She was a warrior for human rights, for freedom and for her nation. Few have or ever will match her service to our nation. We, and millions around the world, are in her debt.”

Joe Lieberman:

“America has lost a clarion voice for freedom. Ambassador Kirkpatrick was a genuine patriot who played a critical role in liberty’s triumph over totalitarianism in the Cold War. Ambassador Kirkpatrick profoundly understood that ideas have consequences, but she was not an armchair intellectual. She employed her great intellect in freedom’s struggle against tyranny. Once again, we are engaged in a battle with the forces of evil and totalitarianism and Jeane Kirkpatrick’s stalwart commitment to freedom should remain an inspiration to us. Jeane Kirkpatrick lived a life of a tribune of democracy. We mourn her passing.”

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Bill Bennett from AP story: ISG would have been better w/ Kirkpatrick

Bill Bennett, a former secretary of education under Reagan, the nation's drug czar under the first President Bush, called her "very forceful, very strong, a daughter of Oklahoma, great sense of humor. She held her own."

Bennett said the Iraq Study Group so prominently in the news "would have been better with Jeane Kirkpatrick on it ... She had no patience with tyrannies, said they had to be confronted, you couldn't deal with tyrannies, that there were some people you could work with — these people you couldn't."

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Excerpts from the statement issued be The Heritage Foundation's Edwin Feulner:

"Whenever I think about Jeane Kirkpatrick, I'm reminded about a story that her husband, Kirk, once told.

"He and his wife, who was U.N. ambassador at the time, were strolling around Manhattan when a truck pulled up besides them. The driver, whom they never seen before, looked at Jeane, smiled, stuck out his head and cheered, 'Give 'em hell, Jeane!’

"Before Jeane, we never had such a bold and brilliant representative for freedom in the United Nations -- an ambassador who earned support from policymakers and truck drivers alike.
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"The world is completely different now than it was in the 1980s, thanks in large part to Jeane, her ideas and her skill in making them work. In Great Britain, they call Lady Margaret Thatcher 'the Iron Lady.' In America, they should call Jeane Kirkpatrick 'the Steel Lady'-- U.S. steel to be exact -- for rebuilding an American foreign policy that’s so strong, we still stand on it today."

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John J. Miller: "she fought the Commies to the very end."

John J. Miller: from the '96 GOP Convention "They always blame America first."

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.

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Peter Schweizer: Kirkpatrick on advice to women
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Words of Wisdom from Jeane Kirkpatrick:

"What takes place in the Security Council more closely resembles a mugging than either a political debate or an effort at problem-solving."

"We have war when at least one of the parties to a conflict wants something more than it wants peace."

"History is a better guide than good intentions. "

"Democrats can't get elected unless things get worse, and things won't get worse unless they get elected. " (my favorite)

"I conclude that it is a fundamental mistake to think that salvation, justice, or virtue come through merely human institutions."

"Democracy not only requires equality but also an unshakable conviction in the value of each person, who is then equal. Cross cultural experience teaches us not simply that people have different beliefs, but that people seek meaning and understand themselves in some sense as members of a cosmos ruled by God."

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Kirkpatrick's is voice that is sorely needed in the U.S. and at the United Nations. She will be missed.

Read the article that brought Kirkpatrick to the Reagan Administration, "Dictatorships and Double Standards" from Commentary.

The Right Angle at Human Events has a good post.

Reuters coverage is here.