Jeane J. Kirkpatrick was remembered at a National Cathedral memorial service Tuesday by hundreds of friends and admirers on the birthday of President Reagan, who appointed her ambassador to the United Nations in 1981.
There, for four years, the former political science professor championed human rights and opposed Soviet communism and what Reagan denounced as the "evil empire."
At the Episcopal service, columnist George Will spoke in tribute to Kirkpatrick, who died Dec. 7 at 80 as a "a happy warrior of words."
The other principal speaker, John R. Bolton, who followed in Kirkpatrick's politically conservative path as U.N. ambassador for President Bush, noted that Tuesday was birthday of the late Ronald Reagan.
Bolton, who was a colleague of Kirkpatrick's at the American Enterprise Institute, a private research group, said, "She believed ideas more than institutions shape the future."
Referring also to her being a native of Oklahoma, Bolton said, "Okies know their roots and are proud of it."
However, he stressed Kirkpatrick's political views and ties to Reagan, saying, "I think that, at least on this day, it's always 'morning in America' and if that doesn't make you feel good then I suspect Kirkpatrick might say, 'you must be a San Francisco Democrat.' "