The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, dies at age 87
The former Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, died this morning after a stroke at age 87. Thatcher had suffered from senile dementia for some time.
The Baroness, was head of the government from 1979 to 1990. This conservative was the first woman to reach Downing Street as prime minister, being the person in that position for the longest time in the twentieth century.
Nicknamed “The Iron Lady” for her strong opposition to the Soviet Union, she implemented a series of conservative policies that became known as Thatcherism.
This brave woman introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived as a precipitate national decline of the United Kingdom. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasized in the deregulation (especially in the financial sector), the labor market flexibility, the privatization of public enterprises and reducing the power of unions.
During the early years Thatcher government, her popularity declined by the recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and victory in the Falklands War of 1982 increased her popularity, which resulted in her reelection in 1983.
According to a BBC profile, during her governments state companies were privatized like telephone, gas, water and electricity, also the airline British Airways and Rolls-Royce company. The strength of unions declined sharply and there were major budget cuts in health and education and important transformations in the areas of transportation and housing, two of the most acute problems of current UK. Her economic credo lied in the liberal policies of Milton Friedman.
A chronicle of Mexico newspaper The Economist notes that her personality transformed the UK for supporting a series of privatization measures and reforms.
Baroness Thatcher, was born in Finchley within a middle class family. Chemistry graduate of the University of Cambridge, studied law and specialized in tax law. In 1952 she was a deputy and retired from the House of Commons in 1992. She had two children, twins, Carol and Mark, and got, under the administration of Edward Heath, her first public position as Minister of Education.
She won the general elections in 1979, 1983 and 1987 and her “conservative revolution” along with her intransigence, transformed the kingdom forever with her ways of doing politics. The Iron Lady resigned on November 22, 1990, with a sigh. Labour’s whistled her departure.
“I am in politics because I know that good will triumph,” said Thatcher.
As prime minister, she helped restore confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain. In addition, Thatcher was a figure of admiration for her personal strength and indomitable spirit. She gave women and girls around the world a reason to impersonate her fantasy of being princesses for the real and true choice to lead a nation.
“It is possible to admire the courage of Sands and the hunger strikers who have died but not sympathize with their killer cause,” Thatcher wrote in her memoirs.
In 2002 she retired from the political life as a millionaire, thanks to her lectures, to the inheritance of her husband Denis and the profits from her memories.