Anne Armstrong, a powerful Republican in the 1970s and ’80s who advocated a greater role for women and was U.S. ambassador to Britain, died Wed nesday of cancer in Houston. She was 80.
She was a national leader of the Republican Party and Cabinet-level adviser to Presidents Nixon and Ford. She was also said to have made Ford’s vice-presidential shortlist in 1976.
In 1976, she became the first woman to serve as U.S. ambassador to Great Britain.
More recently, Armstrong was an adviser on foreign intelligence to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
During the Nixon administration, she became the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee and the sole female White House counselor.
In 1987, Reagan awarded Armstrong the Medal of Freedom for her service to the country.
The Associated Press
