Margaret Thatcher

Being Prime Minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990, there is a lot to this woman than just being the “Iron Lady”. Let us take a look into the life of the most iconic and notorious woman in politics.

Early Life

On October 13, 1925, Margaret Hilda Roberts became the second child of parents Alfred Roberts and Beatrice Stephenson in Gratham, England. Margaret did not only play the role as a child but a younger sister to Muriel Roberts. She belonged to a family that was already involved in politics when her father, Alfred, served as a mayor in Gratham. It was no one’s expectation that Margaret would follow in her father’s footsteps. Who knew that the daughter of a local businessman would become the Prime Minister of Britain?

Margaret studied elementary in Grantham Girls’ High School and was accepted in Oxford University where she studied in Somerville College. One of her instructors was a Nobel prize-winning scientist named Dorothy Hodgkin. With her determination and hard work, Margaret became president of the Oxford University Conservative Association. In 1947, she finally graduated and took a job as a chemist in Dartford.

Parliament and Politics

It was in 1950 when Margaret made her first attempt to run for a seat in Dartford parliamentary as a conservative candidate. This was only two years after she had graduated college and she knew that the task of winning would be nearly impossible. Although she had lost the vote, she still received high recognition from her colleagues due to the impeccable speeches she had given. She attempted to run again the next year but failed once more.

In the year 1951, Margaret married businessman Denis Thatcher. The two welcomed twins in August 15, 1953 and named them Carol and Mark Thatcher. But this did not hinder her to return to studying and earn a degree in law. After completing that course, she returned to politics and finally earned a seat in the House of Commons representing Finchley.

Margaret Thatcher was unstoppable when she beat out Heath for the position of leader in the House of Conservatives. This was during the turmoil status of England where people were losing jobs and the government nearly going bankrupt. This was the chance when the House of Conservatives turned the tables around and returned to power in 1979. As elected leader, Margaret Thatcher made history by becoming British’s first female prime minister.

As the newly elected prime minister, Thatcher was against communism and had numerous things that were both highly popular and unpopular to the society. The title “Iron Lady” was given to her by Captain Yuri Gavrilov because of the manner of how she stood up for things she believed in.

Accomplishments

There were numerous accomplishments Margaret Thatcher had. Her first task that she accomplished during her term was getting back the Falkland Islands from Argentina. These islands were invaded on April 2, 1982 which she quickly responded to by sending out British troops. The Falkland War was won by the British only four months after. Another accomplishment was when Thatcher allied with US President Ronald Reagan against the Soviet Union. The Cold War had come to an end during her hard leadership opposing communism. The third was when she reduced the power of trade unions resulting to the Union Reform. It was during this time that miners’ strikes were finally reduced. The improvement of the economy was one of Thatcher’s achievements. Despite things not going well after the union reform, privatization and increased interest rates, the economy slowly increased after that bumpy road.

Resignation

Margaret Thatcher resigned on November 22, 1990 due to the decreasing support for her policy of a fixed rate poll tax. This resulted to protest and disagreement with the office.

After Thatcher’s resignation, there were several books she had published that discussed about her life in politics and politics itself. These books are entitled: The Downing Street Years (1993), The Path to Power (1995) and Statecraft (2003). She had given numerous speeches wherein she spoke of her experiences as a political leader. During this time, around 2003, her husband of more than 50 years passed away. She had also lost a good personal friend, Ronald Reagan, and had given a eulogy at his funeral.

Late Years

Thatcher had experienced small strokes that led to her memory loss. As her mind slowly failing her, she wasn’t able to attend numerous events such as the wedding of Prince William and the unveiling of Ronald Reagan.

It was due to a stroke that Margaret Thatcher finally passed away on April 8, 2013.