In our Falklands thread yesterday, I wrote about the trouble Mrs. Thatcher had with Ronald Reagan, who was a good deal slower than she’d have liked in swinging around to support her (he had Jeanne Kirkpatrick warning him that all of Latin America would resent American support for the British and Al Haig insisting on neutrality). What I’d forgotten–and I thank a reader of this happy Corner for catching me out on this–is that once Reagan did come around, he supported the British unambiguously. From the Gipper’s June 8, 1982 address to Parliament:

“On distant islands in the South Atlantic young men are fighting for Britain. And, yes, voices have been raised protesting their sacrifice for lumps of rock and earth so far away. But those young men aren’t fighting for mere real estate. They fight for a cause — for the belief that armed aggression must not be allowed to succeed, and the people must participate in the decisions of government — [applause] — the decisions of government under the rule of law. If there had been firmer support for that principle some 45 years ago, perhaps our generation wouldn’t have suffered the bloodletting of World War II.”