Former U.N. Ambassador Kirkpatrick Dies

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, an unabashed apostle of Reagan era conservatism and the first woman U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has died.

The death of the 80-year-old Kirkpatrick, who began her public life as a Hubert Humphrey Democrat, was announced Friday at the senior staff meeting of the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

Spokesman Richard Grenell said that Ambassador John Bolton asked for a moment of silence. An announcement of her death also was posted on the Web site of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-oriented think tank where she was a senior fellow.

Kirkpatrick's assistant, Andrea Harrington, said that she died in her sleep at home in Bethesda, Md., late Thursday. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Kirkpatrick's health had been in decline recently, Harrington said, adding that she was "basically confined to her house," going to work about once a week "and then less and less."

"Ambassador Kirkpatrick served, as most ambassadors have done, in the style and tone of their president," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the U.N., "and like some previous U.S. representatives at the U.N., she commanded the world's attention, making herself a lightning rod for criticism in the process."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Kirkpatrick, who had a reputation as a blunt and acerbic advocate, "stood up for the interests of America while at the U.N., lent a powerful moral voice to the Reagan foreign policy and has been a source of wise counsel to our nation since leaving the government two decades ago. She will be greatly missed."

Karlyn H. Bowman, a colleague of Kirkpatrick at AEI, called her "always insightful. Always interesting. Very thoughtful about modern American politics and foreign policy. A wonderful colleague."

Bowman also said that Kirkpatrick, who had been elevated to the United Nations post by President Reagan in 1981, had "served with great distinction" at the U.N. "She was a great patriot, a champion of freedom and we will certainly miss her at AEI and the country."

Kirkpatrick remained involved in public issues even though she left government service two decades ago. She joined seven other former U.N. ambassadors in 2005 in writing a letter to Congress telling lawmakers that their plan to withhold dues to force reform at the world body was misguided and would "create resentment, build animosity and actually strengthen opponents of reform."

She made headlines on Aug. 20, 1984, when she blasted critics of the Reagan Administration in what came to be known as the "Blame America First" speech at the Republican National Convention in Dallas.

"When our Marines, sent to Lebanon on a multinational peacekeeping mission with the consent of the U.S. Congress, were murdered in their sleep, the "blame America first crowd" did not blame the terrorists who murdered the Marines, they blamed the United States.

"But then, they always blame America first.

"When the Soviet Union walked out of the arms control negotiations, and refused even to discuss the issues, the San Francisco Democrats didn't blame Soviet intransigence. They blamed the United States.

"But then, they always blame America first.

"When Marxist dictators shoot their way to power in Central America, the San Francisco Democrats don't blame the guerrillas and their Soviet allies, they blame U.S. policies of 100 years ago.

"But then, they always blame America first."

Bennett said the Iraq Study Group so prominently in the news "would have been better with Jeane Kirkpatrick on it ... She had no patience with tyrannies, said they had to be confronted, you couldn't deal with tyrannies, that there were some people you could work with — these people you couldn't."