History seldom gives us our perfect teams; the yin and yang partnerships that bring lasting peace and stability, our Roosevelt and Churchill, our Thatcher and Reagan. It seems as though the passing of Margaret Thatcher closes a chapter in our American tale, as if the actions of this giant and that of our own departed president, belong to the pages of the past and out of sight and mind in our current state of affairs. But I say as Obama mourns the passing of the “Iron Lady,” let him show our respect as a nation by learning from her strength and grace, especially right now when such like tyranny seems all too real.
Just as the Soviet Union threatened the United States with nuclear war and its unwinnable war of spirit, the modern pariah state of North Korea and radical Islamic extremists similarly threaten our country and way of life. Like the enemy of Thatcher and Reagan, North Korea sacrifices the freedoms and wellbeing of her citizens to chase a radical vision of government and a mystified worship of its leaders. When the USSR waged an arms race against the United States and the free world, Thatcher and Reagan knew that capitalism would win every step, that as Russia developed its arsenal, our free economy would adversely outfit a military impossible to defeat. Lady Thatcher purchased the Trident nuclear missile submarine system from the United States, effectively tripling Britain’s nuclear arsenal and demonstrating the American policy of strength through a powerful military force. This legacy of strength is paramount in American security but as we’ve seen in the last few election cycles, Obama’s liberal agenda is formulated on gutting our defense budget.
Unlike the foreign policy of Thatcher and Reagan, Obama’s doctrine of “strategic patience” doesn’t add up. Reagan and Thatcher’s lasting Cold War legacy has left the United States with the greatest military force the world has ever known, a force under threat by our far left, and it can still effectively decimate the North Korean military as a last resort. But would the Iron Lady or The Great Communicator stand by while China, our number-one supplier of imports as well as the number one trading partner and benefactor of North Korea, does so little to pressure its protégé into complying with UN demands? No. Thatcher and Reagan would explain to China how its actions on the Korean Peninsula would affect its own privileges with the U.S. trade flow. Obama must be tougher. There’s a reason why she was called the “Iron” Lady.
Our society will never craft another Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher. As they say, they broke the mold. But we must learn from the past. Our leaders should be tough when it matters. We should not talk about gutting a budget when our country is at war and on the verge of another. And let us not forget why we are so strong. As Margaret Thatcher so beautifully said, “I would just like to remember some words of St. Francis of Assisi which I think are really just particularly apt at the moment. ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.'”
**—Kyle York,**
**rkyz67@mail.missouri.edu**
