Jeane Kirkpatrick, RIP
Jeane Kirkpatrick, ex-ambassador, dies (Merrill Hartson, AP)
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, a political science professor whose support for Ronald Reagan conservatism catapulted her into the post of U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has died at 80. She was the first woman to hold the post.Initially a liberal Democrat, Kirkpatrick championed human rights, opposed Soviet Union communism and supported Israel.
"She defended the cause of freedom at a pivotal time in world history," President Bush said Friday. "Jeane's powerful intellect helped America win the Cold War."
Kirkpatrick was, in fact, one of the original neoconservatives (when the term still had meaning), a group of intellectuals and policymakers who broke with the Democratic party on foreign policy in the 1970s, and gravitated to an ascending conservative movement.
AEI posted this short blurb on the great woman:
AEI senior fellow Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, who joined the Institute in 1978, died yesterday. As a young political scientist at Georgetown University, Kirkpatrick wrote the first major study of the role of women in modern politics, Political Woman, which was published in 1974. Her work on the McGovern-Fraser Commission, which was formed in the aftermath of the Democratic Party's tumultuous 1968 convention and changed the way party delegates were chosen, led to Dismantling the Parties: Reflections on Party Reform and Party Decomposition, which AEI published in 1978. Yet it was an essay written for Commentary magazine in 1979, "Dictatorships and Double Standards" (later expanded into a full-length book), that launched her into the political limelight. In the article, Kirkpatrick chronicled the failures of the Carter administration's foreign policy and argued for a clearer understanding of the American national interest. Her essay matched Ronald Reagan's instincts and convictions, and when he became president, he appointed her to represent the United States at the United Nations. Ambassador Kirkpatrick was a member of the president's cabinet and the National Security Council. The United States has lost a great patriot and champion of freedom, and AEI mourns our beloved colleague.
May she Rest In Peace.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 12/08/06 14:35 | American Politics | Technorati
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
TrackBack
There are currently no trackbacks for this item.
Incoming trackback pings have been disabled because of abusive spammers. Technorati is now used to track cross-blog conversation.
Comments
I didn't always agree with Jeane Kirkpatrick, but I always held her in the highest regard. She may have been the most effective UN ambassador this country ever had. Indeed, Rest in Peace.
Posted by another precinct chair @ 16:36 on 12/08/06
Add Comments
While it is not required, creating an account for commenting provides a number of benefits (such as comment editing and bypassing the captcha challenge). You may log in to your account here.
No flames or impolite behavior. Any questions, see the site policies. Older posts are moderated (because of spammers), so if your post does not appear immediately, that could be why.
HTML will be stripped. URLs will be transformed into hyperlinks.
[b]text[/b] will produce bold text. [i]text[/i] will produce italicized text.
Comments for this post must be approved before being published. Thank you!
BLOG
» Create Account
» Log In
DISCLAIMER
Content and design copyright © 1997-2008, Kevin Whited.
Posts represent the views of Kevin Whited (and occasional guest bloggers) only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of employers, family, friends, or significant others.