MARGARET THATCHER

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Margaret Thatcher was born in Great Britain in 1925, and died in 2013. She was a most remarkable woman, and was voted one of the most influential women in the history of Western civilization.

She was the first woman ever to be prime minister of Great Britain. In addition, she was elected to that position three times, making her the longest serving prime minister of Great Britain of the past 200 years.

Early life. Born Margaret Roberts, she was raised in a middle class home. Her father ran a grocery store and the family lived in an apartment above the store. Early in life, she learned about conservative politics and capitalism from her father.

She was a good student in school. Upon graduation from high school, she attended Oxford University, where she got a degree in chemistry. After college, she worked as a research chemist for about fifteen years.

She began her career in politics by running for a seat in the British parliament in 1950 and 1951. She lost both these elections. Around the same time, she married Denis Thatcher and soon gave birth to twins, Mark and Carol.

While raising her two children, in 1959, Margaret ran for office again, and was elected as a member of the British parliament. People liked her direct, blunt style and that she pressed hard for her ideas. She was elected as the Secretary of Education and Science, where she helped establish the first private college in Great Britain.

Prime minister. In 1975, Mrs. Thatcher was elected as the head of her political party. In 1979, her conservative party won the general election and she became the first woman prime minister of Great Britain.

At this time, Great Britain was in the midst of a deep recession with high unemployment. She realized that the cause was the socialist economic policies that were put in place in Great Britain after World War II.

Economic reforms. Mrs. Thatcher used her political power to help deregulate the economy, privatize some government-owned businesses, and reduce the power of the labor unions, in order to restore the economy. (These are exactly the same reforms being made currently in the United States by Donald Trump).

These reforms are based on a belief in the individual, in moral absolutes, and in the power of free market economics and capitalism. Within about two years, her policies began to take effect, and the economic situation in Great Britain improved dramatically. The British people were pleased and re-elected her two more times as prime minister.

Her legacy. Today, Mrs. Thatcher is widely criticized in Great Britain as being an extremist who wrecked the economy. This is complete nonsense. The lies are being spread by the socialists and communists who want to see Europe fail, as it is currently doing.

In fact, only under Margaret Thatcher’s leadership did Great Britain regain some of its former economic strength that had contributed so much to the victory of the allies in World War II.

Sadly, the privatization of industry and other changes Mrs. Thatcher instituted have today been largely obliterated by recent socialist governments in Great Britain. So once again, Great Britain has sunk into a quagmire of unemployment and economic recession.

Some day, I hope the true legacy of Mrs. Thatcher will be known, at least to the British people, and hopefully to the whole world.

RESOURCES

The Margaret Thatcher Foundation http://www.margaretthatcher.org

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