Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship

Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship PDF

Author: Richard Aldous

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2012-03-19

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 0393083152

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An iconic friendship, an uneasy alliance—a revisionist account of the couple who ended the Cold War. For decades historians have perpetuated the myth of a "Churchillian" relationship between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, citing their longtime alliance as an example of the "special" bond between the United States and Britain. But, as Richard Aldous argues in this penetrating dual biography, Reagan and Thatcher clashed repeatedly—over the Falklands war, Grenada, and the SDI and nuclear weapons—while carefully cultivating a harmonious image for the public and the press. With the stakes enormously high, these political titans struggled to work together to confront the greatest threat of their time: the USSR. Brilliantly reconstructing some of their most dramatic encounters, Aldous draws on recently declassified documents and extensive oral history to dismantle the popular conception of Reagan-Thatcher diplomacy. His startling conclusion—that the weakest link in the Atlantic Alliance of the 1980s was the association between the two principal actors—will mark an important contribution to our understanding of the twentieth century.

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan

Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan PDF

Author: J. Cooper

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2012-10-10

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 1137283661

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A new exploration of the relationship between the Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan administrations in domestic policy. Using recently released documentary material and extensive research interviews, James Cooper demonstrates how specific policy transfer between these 'political soul mates' was more limited than is typically assumed.

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher PDF

Author: Nicholas Wapshott

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2007-11-08

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 1101217871

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New details of the remarkable relationship between two leaders who teamed up to change history. It?s well known that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were close allies and kindred political spirits. During their eight overlapping years as U.S. president and UK prime minister, they stood united for free markets, low taxes, and a strong defense against communism. But just how close they really were will surprise you. Nicholas Wapshott finds that the Reagan-Thatcher relationship was much deeper than an alliance of mutual interests. Drawing on extensive interviews and hundreds of recently declassified private letters and telephone calls, he depicts a more complex, intimate, and occasionally combative relationship than has previously been revealed.

Thatcher, Reagan, and Mulroney

Thatcher, Reagan, and Mulroney PDF

Author: Donald J. Savoie

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published: 2010-11-23

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 0822974614

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Savoie considers the war of reform waged by the leaders of these major industrial countries. Reagan declared that he had come to Washington to "drain the swamp" of bureaucracy, and set up the Grace Commission to investigate the operation of the U.S. government. Thatcher and Mulroney were equally committed to reform and initiated wide-ranging changes. By the end of the 1990s, the changes were dramatic. Many governments operations had been privatized in all three countries, and new management techniques had been introduced. In Great Britain, one observer judged that the changes were historically as important as the collapse of Keynesian economics. Is government now better in these countries, and was political leadership right in focusing on management of the bureaucracy as the villain? Savoie suggests that the reforms overlooked problems now urgently requiring attention and, at the same time, attempted to address non-existent problems. He combines theory and research based on sixty-two interviews, nearly all with members of the executive branch of the governments of Britain, Canada and the United States.

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher

Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher PDF

Author: Nicholas Wapshott

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9781595230478

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Drawing on interviews with those closest to them, as well as on hundreds of recently declassified private letters and telephone calls, Wapshott depicts a complex, personal, and sometimes argumentative relationship between these two unlikely political soulmates. 8-page b&w photo insert.

Dismantling the Welfare State?

Dismantling the Welfare State? PDF

Author: Paul Pierson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1995-09-29

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1316583538

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This book offers a careful examination of the politics of social policy in an era of austerity and conservative governance. Focusing on the administrations of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Pierson provides a compelling explanation for the welfare state's durability and for the few occasions where each government was able to achieve significant cutbacks. The programmes of the modern welfare state - the 'policy legacies' of previous governments - generally proved resistant to reform. Hemmed in by the political supports that have developed around mature social programmes, conservative opponents of the welfare state were successful only when they were able to divide the supporters of social programmes, compensate those negatively affected, or hide what they were doing from potential critics. The book will appeal to those interested in the politics of neo-conservatism as well as those concerned about the development of the modern welfare state. It will attract readers in the fields of comparative politics, public policy, and political economy.

The Human Factor

The Human Factor PDF

Author: Archie Brown

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-03-13

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 0190614919

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In this penetrating analysis of the role of political leadership in the Cold War's ending, Archie Brown shows why the popular view that Western economic and military strength left the Soviet Union with no alternative but to admit defeat is wrong. To understand the significance of the parts played by Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in East-West relations in the second half of the 1980s, Brown addresses several specific questions: What were the values and assumptions of these leaders, and how did their perceptions evolve? What were the major influences on them? To what extent were they reflecting the views of their own political establishment or challenging them? How important for ending the East-West standoff were their interrelations? Would any of the realistically alternative leaders of their countries at that time have pursued approximately the same policies? The Cold War got colder in the early 1980s and the relationship between the two military superpowers, the USA and the Soviet Union, each of whom had the capacity to annihilate the other, was tense. By the end of the decade, East-West relations had been utterly transformed, with most of the dividing lines - including the division of Europe - removed. Engagement between Gorbachev and Reagan was a crucial part of that process of change. More surprising was Thatcher's role. Regarded by Reagan as his ideological and political soulmate, she formed also a strong and supportive relationship with Gorbachev (beginning three months before he came to power). Promoting Gorbachev in Washington as 'a man to do business with', she became, in the words of her foreign policy adviser Sir Percy Cradock, 'an agent of influence in both directions'.

Reagan and Thatcher's Special Relationship

Reagan and Thatcher's Special Relationship PDF

Author: Sally-Ann Treharne

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2015-06-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 074868607X

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Drawing on recently declassified documents and elite interviews with key protagonists that reveal candid recollections, Sally-Ann Treharne highlights the pivotal moments in Reagan and Thatcher's shared history from a new vantage point.

A Journey with Margaret Thatcher

A Journey with Margaret Thatcher PDF

Author: Robin Renwick

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2013-04-02

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1849545758

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In a remarkably candid new book, former high-ranking diplomat Robin Renwick provides a fascinating insight into Margaret Thatcher's performances on the world stage. He examines her successes, including the defeat of aggression in the Falklands, her contribution to the ending of the Cold War and her role in the Anglo-Irish agreement; her special relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev and what the Americans felt to be the excessive influence she exerted over Ronald Reagan, and attitudes towards F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela; and what she herself acknowledged as her spectacular failure in resisting German reunification. He describes at first hand her often turbulent relationships with other European leaders and her arguments with Cabinet colleagues about European monetary union (in which regard, he contends, her arguments have stood the test of time and are highly relevant to the crisis in the eurozone today). Finally, he tells of her bravura performance in the run-up to the Gulf War, her calls for intervention in Bosnia and the difficulties she created for her successor. While her faults were on the same scale as her virtues, Margaret Thatcher succeeded in her mission to restore Britain's standing and influence, in the process becoming a cult figure in many other parts of the world. Including material from the recently released War Cabinet files on the Falklands conflict, this book is an important exploration of an outstanding world leader.