A detour to his ancestral home of Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary, by Ronald Reagan was also pivotal in securing Irish-American votes
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
As the Taoiseach flies to the United States, history shows that it is actually Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who ironically threw Ireland and America intimately together.
The closer relations came about after the presentation of shamrock in the White House had initially been made by the Irish ambassador to the United States, and not with any major media palaver.