Reagan, Thatcher teamwork focus of speech
In an address clearly designed to bolster her bid for the U.S. presidency, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) summoned the memories of a former president and his British counterpart on the final day of The American Legion's 93rd National Convention in Minneapolis Thursday.
"There are those who want to tell us that our day as the free world's leader has passed," Bachmann told thousands of Legionnaires and their families in the Minneapolis Convention Center. "I don't believe that statement - and when we conduct our foreign policy apologetically (and) ‘leading from behind,' I believe that, in fact, weakens our credibility across the world."
Evoking the memories of President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Bachmann spoke of their leadership in the face of global threats.
In recalling Reagan's policies, Bachmann referred to the Iranian hostage crisis of November 1979 to January 1980. During that period, 52 Americans were held hostage after a group of Islamic militants captured the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The crisis ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords the day before Reagan was sworn in as President. Bachmann said that "rather than facing Reagan," Iran urgently released the hostages.
Bachmann then made reference to Thatcher's handling of her own foreign policy crisis in April 1982 when Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands in a long-standing sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom. Thatcher dispatched a naval task force to the South Atlantic territory and ultimately claimed victory after a 74-day conflict.
"These were the first victories of Ronald Reagan's presidency and of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as the prime minister of Britain," Bachmann said. "And we should keep the lessons that they hold for dealing with those who seek to wreak havoc on peace and democracy across the world today - because I believe for the sake of our own security and for the defense of our values, American leadership has always been critical to the peace and safety and prosperity of the world."
In addition to expressing her position on national security, Bachmann called for the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable (health) Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 and said she would repel fiscal policies that she views as threats to veterans' benefits.
"Those who serve today also deserve a country where, when their service is over, they know with complete and full assurance that they will also have the same opportunity for a good life. But our current economic path is making it less and less possible for our returning soldiers."
Toward the end her speech, Bachmann returned to her tribute to Ronald Reagan and, especially, Thatcher, who Bachmann calls a personal role model.
"They forged a powerful partnership," Bachmann said. "They turned their countries around. They restored them as military and economic superpowers, and the world was better for it. And, in the process, they defeated the Soviet Union without firing a shot, and they fundamentally changed the economies of both nations that ushered in a period of peace and prosperity that was unparalleled in the history of the world.
"We find ourselves today in search of another Margaret Thatcher to restore our great country to the thriving nation that I believe we can be again."