Who is margaret thatcher

The longest serving British premier of the twentieth century, Mrs Thatcher has been the subject of both adulation and vilification.

With elegance, wit, and historical insight, Cannadine charts Mrs Thatcher's upbringing and influences, her political career and life after politics, the impact of her policies, and her personal reputation and political legacy. The book also features a glossary of key terms, a chronology, a 'dramatis personae' of significant figures of the period, and a guide to further reading. MT's reply to the critics was characteristic of her: she announced her plans for a third Thatcher Government!

With the economy now very strong, prospects were good for an election and the government was voted in again. She had now become a very well known international figure, with a particularly close relationship to the US President Ronald Reagan pictured. She was at the height of her power at the time this photo was taken. They were both very critical of the Communist policies of the Soviet Union, which had been involved in a kind of "Cold War" with Western Europe and the US since the late s.

By "Cold War" people meant a conflict that didn't involve actual fighting directly between the powers themselves, but lots of tension and threat all the same. MT now began her last term in office. There were huge reforms of education, local government and health care, all of them very controversial. One was quickly reversed - the introduction of a new way of paying for local government, "the poll tax" - but the others have lasted longer and governments after hers built on them.

There were big disputes between MT and her closest colleagues over Britain's relations with the European Community EC , which we had joined in MT had become more and more critical of the EC over time and made a speech at Bruges in September which began to turn her party into a 'Euro-sceptic' one. In these years the Cold War began to come to an end, an event in which MT played her part. She helped to strengthen of the Western alliance against the Soviets in the early s by supporting the strong defence policies of Ronald Reagan and then helped to encourage a peaceful solution to the conflict when a new and much friendlier leader emerged in the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.

She invited him to Britain in December and said afterwards he was a man she could do business with. You can see from the photo that they got on well. By late , the Cold War was over.

But that event triggered new arguments about Europe, as France revived the idea that there should be a single European currency to limit the power of Germany which had been divided till the end of the Cold War. As a result, divisions over European policy within the British Government were deepened.

In the vote that followed, she won a majority. Yet under party rules a second vote was still required. Receiving the news at a conference in Paris, she announced straight away that she would fight on. But a political earthquake occurred the next day on her return to London, when many colleagues — unsympathetic to her views on Europe and doubting that she could win a fourth election — suddenly deserted her leadership and left her no choice but to withdraw. She resigned as PM on November 28 After Lady Thatcher as she became remained a powerful political figure.

She wrote two best-selling volumes of memoirs - The Downing Street Years and The Path to Power - and for 12 years toured the world lecturing. Denis Thatcher, her husband for more than fifty years, died in June She was very sad to lose him. People still argue a lot about MT. Critics claim that many of her policies were too harsh and hurt people. Defenders say she made the Britain economy work much better and that made most people better off. But critics and supporters agree in thinking that MT's time as PM was very important in British history.

She was not very well in her last years and became quite forgetful. But she still enjoyed life and had many friends and admirers. She died in April and was buried in a grand ceremonial funeral at St Paul's Cathedral. The Queen attended, as well as the Prime Minister and many famous people from all over the world. Her coffin was carried by soldiers from the Welsh Guards, a regiment which had fought bravely in the Falklands War. Email us the result and we will tell you how many you got right.

She was worried she might forget her lines so jotted down notes on a tiny card also on this site. Can you spot when she glances down at the card?

Queen Elizabeth II has since served as reigning monarch of the United Kingdom England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and numerous other realms and territories, as well as head of the Commonwealth, the group of 53 sovereign nations that includes many former British The Wars of the Roses were a series of bloody civil wars for the throne of England between two competing royal families: the House of York and the House of Lancaster, both members of the age-old royal Plantagenet family.

Waged between and , the Wars of the Roses earned Victoria was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland — and empress of India — She was the last of the House of Hanover and gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age. During her reign the English monarchy took on its modern Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Mead Cultural anthropologist and writer Margaret Meade was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Barnard College in Margaret Taylor Margaret Taylor was an American first lady and the wife of Zachary Taylor, an American military hero and the 12th president of the United States.

Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II has since served as reigning monarch of the United Kingdom England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and numerous other realms and territories, as well as head of the Commonwealth, the group of 53 sovereign nations that includes many former British Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses were a series of bloody civil wars for the throne of England between two competing royal families: the House of York and the House of Lancaster, both members of the age-old royal Plantagenet family.

England was in a time of economic and political turmoil, with the government nearly bankrupt, unemployment on the rise and conflicts with labor unions. This instability helped return Conservatives to power in As party leader, Thatcher made history in May , when she was appointed Britain's first female prime minister.

As prime minister, Thatcher battled the country's recession by initially raising interest rates to control inflation. She was best known for her destruction of Britain's traditional industries through her attacks on labor organizations such as the miner's union, and for the massive privatization of social housing and public transport.

One of her staunchest allies was U. President Ronald Reagan , a fellow conservative. The two shared similar right-wing, pro-corporate political philosophies. Thatcher faced a military challenge during her first term. In April , Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. This British territory had long been a source of conflict between the two nations, as the islands are located off the coast of Argentina. Taking swift action, Thatcher sent British troops to the territory to retake the islands in what became known as the Falklands War.

Argentina surrendered in June In her second term, from to , Thatcher handled a number of conflicts and crises, the most jarring of which may have been the assassination attempt against her in In a plot by the Irish Republic Army, she was meant to be killed by a bomb planted at the Conservative Conference in Brighton in October. Undaunted and unharmed, Thatcher insisted that the conference continue, and gave a speech the following day.

As for foreign policy, Thatcher met with Mikhail Gorbachev , the Soviet leader, in That same year, she signed an agreement with the Chinese government regarding the future of Hong Kong. Publicly, Thatcher voiced her support for Reagan's air raids on Libya in and allowed U.

Returning for a third term in , Thatcher sought to implement a standard educational curriculum across the nation and make changes to the country's socialized medical system.

However, she lost a lot of support due to her efforts to implement a fixed rate local tax—labeled a poll tax by many since she sought to disenfranchise those who did not pay it. Hugely unpopular, this policy led to public protests and caused dissension within her party. Thatcher initially pressed on for party leadership in , but eventually yielded to pressure from party members and announced her intentions to resign on November 22,