Washington ( CNN ) -- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former President Ronald Reagan were , in the words of one close aide , `` political soulmates . '' Reagan , who was elected a year after Thatcher assumed office in 1979 , found in her a fresh , conservative voice who he could align with on many international issues . And in nearly a decade of working together , she found in him a personal friend and an equal on the global stage . He offered her stronger support than any previous American president in dealing with terrorism in Northern Ireland , said biographer Geoffrey Smith , author of `` Reagan and Thatcher . '' She was also one of the first leaders who spotted the potential for a new kind of leader in Mikhail Gorbachev and convinced Reagan that he could be trusted . `` I like Mr. Gorbachev . We can do business together , '' she said in December 1984 , three months before he was chosen to lead the Soviet Union . `` Thatcher was a politician who had a strong voice , '' Gorbachev said in a statement that noted their relationship evolved gradually . `` At the end , we were able to reach an understanding , and it was a contribution to the change in atmosphere between our country and the West and to the end of the Cold War . '' Reagan left a similar impression on Thatcher . U.S. political figures react to Lady Thatcher 's death . `` She certainly liked Reagan a lot from the moment he won office and he felt the same , '' said Julian Zelizer , a Princeton University historian and CNN contributor . `` They had a deep respect , admiration and a friendship . '' Thatcher said at his 2004 funeral that `` we have lost a great president , a great American and a great man . And I have lost a dear friend . '' Thatcher , called the `` Iron Lady '' for her personal and political toughness and the only woman to become British prime minister , died Monday at 87 . `` It was closer ideologically and warmer personally than any relationship between any other British prime minister and any other American president , '' Smith said of Reagan and Thatcher 's friendship . Together , they came to epitomize what has been called the golden age of conservatism â€ ” an age where their policies changed the world map . `` They both thought that they were leading political revolutions at the same time in countries that were fundamentally liberal , '' Zelizer said . Each believed in the strength of free markets , disdained communism and saw themselves and their countries as part of a transatlantic alliance , Zelizer said . During her time at the helm of the British government , she emphasized moral absolutism , nationalism , and the rights of the individual versus those of the stateâ€ ” famously saying in 1987 : `` There is no such thing as society . '' Fast facts on the Iron Lady . `` Both took strong attacks against different types of regulations , '' Zelizer said . `` Reagan worked on telecommunications , the environment and business . Thatcher took stands with health care . Both were tough with unions and believed unions posed a danger to people . '' Thatcher and Reagan met years before either came to power , Smith said . They spent hours discussing their shared vision . Eventually , their relationship evolved to the point where they felt comfortable speaking for the other . `` Thatcher would say , speaking for both of them , 'Ron and I think , ' '' Smith said . Reagan initially urged British restraint in the days leading up to 1982 Falklands War with Argentina . `` The best chance for peace was before complete Argentine humiliation , '' Reagan said in a memo released 30 years later . Thatcher was reportedly relieved when Reagan ultimately backed her . The British victory in the Falklands became a mainstay of her legacy . Thatcher 's most memorable quotes . The two had other differences , however . Thatcher was troubled over the soaring U.S. budget deficit , but was unable to get Reagan to share her concerns , said former Thatcher press secretary , Martin Ingham . `` It went against her grain that such a huge debt was being piled up , '' he said . Reagan struggled to convince Thatcher to agree to allow the 1986 U.S. raid on Libya to be launched from British bases . She was similarly troubled by the 1983 American invasion of Grenada . `` Mrs. Thatcher was heard to expostulate , not once , but many times 'How could ( Reagan ) do it without telling the Queen , i.e . without telling me so that I could inform the head of the commonwealth , ' '' Ingham said . She gave the president a friendly `` ear-bashing '' over that and his attempt to make a nuclear disarmament deal with Gorbachev at Rejkyavik , Iceland , in 1986 . On the day of Reagan 's funeral , Thatcher sat behind the former president 's son , Ronald Prescott Reagan , looking sadly on as he comforted his mother , Nancy . `` Ronnie and I knew her as a dear and trusted friend , '' Mrs. Reagan said on Monday in a statement . `` I will miss her . '' Thatcher : Hero or villain ? CNN 's Richard Allen Greene , Nic Robertson and Bill Schneider contributed to this report .
Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were friends for 1982 . They agreed on many issues , saw each other as `` soulmates '' in the conservative world . Reagan initially disagreed with her on how she wanted to handle the Cold War in decades .