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Queen leads tributes to Reagan

6/ 6/2004

THE Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Baroness Thatcher led the tributes that continued to pour in today for the former US president Ronald Reagan, who has died at the age of 93.

Mr Reagan, who was largely credited to ending the Cold War, died with his wife Nancy and their children at his side at the family's home in California.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The Queen is saddened by the news."

Mr Blair said he was a "good friend of Britain" while former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher hailed him as "a truly great American hero".

She said: "President Reagan was one of my closest political and dearest personal friends.

"He will be missed not only by those who knew him and not only by the nation that he served so proudly and loved so deeply, but also by millions of men and women who live in freedom today because of the policies he pursued.

"Ronald Reagan had a higher claim than any other leader to have won the Cold War for liberty and he did it without a shot being fired.

"To have achieved so much against so odds and with such humour and humanity made Ronald Reagan a truly great American hero."

Mr Blair "heard with sadness" of the former president's death, Downing Street said.

Friend

"He has written to both President Bush and Nancy Reagan to offer his sympathies and condolences.

"President Reagan will be remembered as a good friend of Britain.

"At home his vision and leadership restored national self-confidence and brought some significant changes to US politics while abroad the negotiation of arms control agreements in his second term and his statesman-like pursuit of more stable relations with the Soviet Union helped bring about the end of the Cold War.

"He will be greatly missed by his many friends and admirers on this side of the Atlantic."

President George Bush held back tears as he paid tribute to Reagan from Paris where he is staying in between meetings with French president Jacques Chirac and today's D-Day 60th anniversary ceremony in Normandy.

Describing the death as "a sad hour in the life of America," he went on to hail the former president as a great American who "leaves behind a nation he restored and a world he helped save".

The president said he had talked to Mrs Reagan and offered her the nation's prayers and condolences.

Mr Bush said Reagan "had the confidence that comes with conviction, the strength that comes with character, the grace that comes with humility, and the humour that comes with wisdom".

During the years of Reagan's presidency, the nation "laid to rest an era of division and self-doubt and because of his leadership the world laid to rest an era of fear and tyranny," he said.

Comfort

He blinked back tears as he said: "He always told us for America the best is yet to come.

"We comfort ourselves in the knowledge that this is true for him too.

"His work is done. And now a shining city awaits him."

News of Mr Reagan's deteriorating health reached the White House in the last few days.

After announcing to the world in 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the 40th US president said he had begun "the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life".

His body is expected to be taken to his presidential library and museum in Simi Valley, California, and then flown to Washington to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

His funeral is expected to take place at the National Cathedral, an event likely to be attended by leaders from across the world.

Mr Reagan's body will then be returned to California for a sunset burial at his library.

He lived longer than any US president, spending his last decade in seclusion while fighting the disease, nursed by Nancy, whom he called Mommy, and his closest friends.

Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush senior and Bill Clinton are now the only surviving ex-presidents.

Nancy Reagan remained fiercely protective of her husband's condition, but last month admitted he was very ill, saying: "Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him."

Prayers

Announcing his death, she said in a statement: "My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has passed away after 10 years of Alzheimer's disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers."

Mr Reagan's oldest daughter, Maureen, from his first marriage, died in August 2001 at the age of 60 from cancer.

He is survived by three other children: Michael, from his first marriage, and Ronald Reagan Jr and Patti Davis from his second.

Over two terms, from 1981 to 1989, Mr Reagan reshaped the Republican Party in line with conservative image, focusing on the demise of the Soviet Union and Eastern European communism.

Taking office at age 69, Mr Reagan had already lived a career outside Washington, working as a radio sports announcer, an actor, a television performer, a spokesman for the General Electric Co, and a two-term governor of California.

Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry said that Reagan's "love of country was infectious. Even when he was breaking Democrats' hearts, he did so with a smile and in the spirit of honest and open debate."

Former US president Bill Clinton described him as "a true American original".

Another ex-president George Bush Senior said he and Reagan had been political opponents but became close friends, adding: "He could take a stand ... and do it without creating bitterness or creating enmity on the part of other people."

Expressing his sadness at the news, Mr Chirac said: "He salutes the memory of a great man of state who, through the force of his convictions and his commitment in favour of democracy, will leave a profound mark on history," his office said.