Pre-1976 Politics

This invitation was for a luncheon held at 10 Downing Street on July 17, 1972. The event was hosted by British Prime Minister Edward Heath. Ronald Reagan, Governor of California at the time, was on a twenty-day European trip, taken on behalf of President Richard Nixon. Reagan was visiting world leaders in European capital cities. While Reagan was on the trip, President Nixon was occupied with the Watergate break in that had taken place one month earlier.

On an interesting side note, this luncheon is where Ronald Reagan is thought to have met Margaret Thatcher, a member of Prime Minister Heath’s Cabinet, for the first time. Three years later Thatcher would replace Heath as party leader and in 1979 she would become Prime Minister. Thatcher and Reagan held very similar political views and became close friends. Prime Minister Thatcher was the first world leader Reagan would invite to visit the White House after he became president. Margaret Thatcher was one of three people to deliver a eulogy at Reagan’s funeral.