Jeane Kirkpatrick

Jeane Jordan Kirkpatrick (born November 19, 1926) is an American conservative political scientist and member of the neoconservative movement. After serving as Ronald Reagan's foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign, she was nominated as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. An ardent anticommunist, she is famous for her "Kirkpatrick Doctrine," which advocates U.S. support of anticommunist governments around the world, including authoritarian dictatorships. Along with Empower America co-directors William Bennett and Jack Kemp, she called on the Congress to issue a formal declaration of war against the "entire fundamentalist Islamic terrorist network" the day after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.

Biography

Jeane Kirkpatrick, born Jeane Duane Jordan in Duncan, Oklahoma, graduated from Barnard College in 1948, and received a doctorate in political science from Columbia University in 1968. During her early academic career she was a Marxist, joining the Youth section of the American Socialist Party. At Columbia her principal adviser was Franz Neumann, a revisionist Marxist. In 1967, she joined the faculty of Georgetown University, and became a full professor of political science in 1968.

Related Topics:
Duncan, Oklahoma - Barnard College - 1948 - Columbia University - 1968 - Marxist - Socialist Party - Franz Neumann - Revisionist Marxist - 1967 - Georgetown University

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She became active in politics as a Democrat in the 1970s, and was active in the later campaigns of former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey. Kirkpatrick published a number of articles in political science journals reflecting her disillusionment with the Democratic party, and was especially critical of the foreign policy of Democratic President Jimmy Carter.

Related Topics:
Democrat - Hubert Humphrey - Jimmy Carter

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Explaining her disillusionment with international organizations, especially the United Nations, she stated, "as I watched the behavior of the nations of the U.N. (including our own), I found no reasonable ground to expect any one of those governments to transcend permanently their own national interests for those of another country...I conclude that it is a fundamental mistake to think that salvation, justice, or virtue come through merely human institutions...Democracy not only requires equality but also an unshakable conviction in the value of each person, who is then equal. Cross cultural experience teaches us not simply that people have different beliefs, but that people seek meaning and understand themselves in some sense as members of a cosmos ruled by God."

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In 1980 she became the foreign policy adviser for the Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan during his campaign. After winning the election, Reagan nominated Kirkpatrick as United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a position she held for four years.

Related Topics:
1980 - Republican - Ronald Reagan - United States Ambassador to the United Nations

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She was one of the strongest open supporters of Argentina's military dictatorship following the March 1982 Argentine invasion of the United Kingdom's Falkland Islands (the Argentinian name for the islands is las Malvinas), which triggered the Falklands War (referred to in Argentina as: Guerra de las Malvinas). Kirkpatrick sympathized with Argentina's President Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri whose military regime clamped down on leftists (see "Dirty War"). Her support was basically muted when the administration ultimately decided to declare support for the British (see U.S. shuttle diplomacy during the Falklands War).

Related Topics:
Argentina - Falkland Islands - Falklands War - Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri - Dirty War - U.S. shuttle diplomacy during the Falklands War

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She later became a member of Reagan's national security team, where she was accused of accepting bribes, falsifying tapes that implicated Soviet forces in the shooting down of a South Korean passenger jet (Flight 007) on September 1, 1983, and advocating the dismantling of India, all of which she denied.

Related Topics:
Soviet - South Korean - Flight 007 - September 1 - 1983

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At the 1984 Republican National Convention, Kirkpatrick delivered the memorable "Blame America First" speech, in which she praised the foreign policy of the Reagan administration and excoriated the leadership of the Democratic Party for its shift away from the policies of former Democratic presidents such as Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy to a stance that de-emphasized assertive confrontation with foreign rivals.

Related Topics:
1984 Republican National Convention - Harry S. Truman - John F. Kennedy

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In 1985 Kirkpatrick became a Republican and returned to teaching at Georgetown. She became a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank. In 1993 she co-founded Empower America, a public-policy organization.

Related Topics:
1985 - Republican - American Enterprise Institute - Think tank - 1993 - Empower America

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