John O’Sullivan, who was a special adviser to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and part of her inner circle of speechwriters, on Monday credited her with restoring Britain’s world reputation and its economy.
In an interview with Newsmax TV, O’Sullivan said Thatcher, who died Monday at 87, played a key role, in putting Great Britain back on the world stage.
“She is the woman who managed to restore Britain’s reputation much in the same way that [Ronald] Reagan restored America’s,” he said.
“She was his partner in the victory over the Cold War, but domestically she reversed failures spanning about 30 years and turned Britain into a significant country globally and economically,” he said.
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O’Sullivan also told Newsmax that the close relationship between Reagan and Thatcher and their approach to ending the Cold War brought about an event that may not have been achieved until 20 or 30 years later than it occurred, if at all.
“There was a real risk it would have become more bloody. Some people were killed in the latter stages of the Cold War in Georgia and Lithuania, and we shouldn’t forget that, but there wasn’t the mass slaughter that you associate with the end of empires,” he said.
“That’s due in large part because, having established conditions for defeating the Soviet Union, they drew [then-Russian Prime Minister Mikhail] Gorbachev into a collaboration to make sure that whatever happened, it wouldn’t be war and violent upheaval.”
O’Sullivan said initially Thatcher was somewhat of a reluctant politician and didn’t initially see herself as someone who would help women break the glass ceiling in politics.
“The year before she was elected, she had led the House of Commons and fought Labor’s resistance against the budget.” He said she had initially supported the candidacy of fellow right-winger Sir Keith Joseph, who went on to serve in her Cabinet.
“When he withdrew from the race, she decided to carry forward the mantle of free enterprise and conservatism,” Sullivan said.
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