Margaret Thatcher returned to public life to eulogize Ronald Reagan

Few foreign leaders, whose administrations overlapped most of Thatcher's premiership, had tenures as parallel as Thatcher and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Both were harsh opponents of the Soviet Union when they ran for governor and were free-market conservatives. Reagan's firing of striking traffic controllers was paralleled by Thatcher's reluctance to concede to a coal miners' strike. They were devoted friends and comrades. Reagan was persuaded by Thatcher to cooperate with Mikhail Gorbachev, the new Soviet leader.

Thatcher had stopped speaking in front of groups when Reagan passed away in 2004 as a result of many strokes. She delivered a prerecorded video eulogy during Reagan's state funeral per the former president's request. She claimed that Reagan "sought to mend America's broken spirit, to rebuild the power of the free world, and to liberate the slaves of communism." These were risky and difficult causes to advance. She sat next to Gorbachev at the funeral.