LONDON — Passers-by at the American Embassy, in the heart of London's upscale Mayfair district, were greeted Monday morning by the disembodied voice of Ronald Reagan drifting through the air from large speakers — a prelude to the unveiling of a $1 million bronze statue of the former president here to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.
In defiance of the usual Fourth of July sentiments, American and British flags were intertwined and placed into perfectly trimmed hedges in leafy Grosvenor Square. Hundreds of guests demonstrated the much-vaunted special relationship by lining up patiently, in the accepted British style, for American cuisine in the form of Fresh 'n' Tasty Jumbo Hot Dogs and Dippin' Donuts.
As the brass band of the U.S. Army Europe struck up "America the Beautiful," an assembly of grandees — most of them conservatives like Reagan's former speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice — as well as a congressional delegation led by the House majority whip, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., mingled with leaders of Britain's governing Conservative Party.
Among those representing the British government were the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne; the minister of defense, Liam Fox; and the foreign secretary, William Hague.
The statue of a smiling Reagan, dressed in a crisp suit, was paid for by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation as part of a worldwide effort to promote his legacy, according to the organization's executive director, John Heubusch. Similar events have been held in the last few days in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
Inscribed on the statue is a quote from his friend Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister. "Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War," it reads, "without firing a single shot." (Some British commentators suggested that oversimplifies the matter and ignores the contributions of Eastern European dissidents.)
Though Thatcher is in poor health and did not attend, she provided a statement that was read by Hague. "Through his strength and conviction," she wrote, "he brought millions of people to freedom as the Iron Curtain finally came down."
In a speech, McCarthy described Reagan's fight not only against the forces of Communism, but against the "tyranny" of debt and big government. He and Thatcher, he said, "did not move to the center to gather votes, they moved the center to them."
Hague called Reagan "a great American hero." Were he here today, Hague said in reference to the Arab Spring, "he would be saying, 'It's morning in the Middle East.'"
Later, Hague said to reporters that the attendees had been "mostly conservatives." But when asked whether the former president was a divisive figure, he gestured to the crowds and said, "Look how happy everyone is."
Hague said the statue would appeal to a wide variety of Londoners and credited Reagan's "humor and charm that meant he was widely admired by even those who disagreed with him."
The U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, Louis B. Susman, said in an interview that even those who rejected Reagan's politics "admire his leadership, and the fact that the same qualities he embodied have been exported to North Africa, in the Arab Spring."
In front of the hot dog stand, Jeff Whitaker, 40, a computer programmer from Atlanta, was a bit more ambivalent. "He was one of America's better presidents," he mused, before adding that he would also like to see a statue in London honoring Jimmy Carter, a native Georgian.