Margaret Thatcher

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Margaret Thatcher

(Her Life as Prime Minister of Britain)

Margaret Thatcher can be considered as one of the most prolific leaders of our time.

She was Britain's first and only woman Prime Minister, thus far. She was the longest

serving Prime Minister Britain had in the 20th century. Thatcher's stern, no-nonsense

approach in the leadership of her government earned her the nickname, "The Iron Lady."

She certainly lived up to the name, because she took Britain through a revolutionary

change; that even made other world leaders open their eyes to her dynamics.

Margaret Thatcher served as Britain's prime minister from 1979 to 1990 (Young

3). She became prime minister after the Conservative Party; led by her, defeated the

Labour Party in parliamentary elections in 1979. She remained in office after her part

gain won parliamentary elections in 1983 and 1987 (Young 3).

Margaret Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925 in the north Midlands town of

Grantham, (Birth name Margaret Hilda Roberts), the youngest daughter of a grocer,

Alfred Roberts, who held a number of part-time political positions and eventually

became the town's alderman.

His enthsiasuim for public duty, as well as his reverence for

education, thrift, and hard work, were undeniable influence on his daughter's early

formation, and in her political thinking ( Johnson 2). In 1943, she just managed to enter

Somerville College at Oxford but was locked into the study of chemistry by the

inflexibility of the British secondary school system. She would have preferred to study

law first, but that would happen later.

In 1953, Thatcher became a tax attorney (Young 3). However, her real

passion was politics, and she soon joined the Oxford University Conservative Association

(OUCA). Her first direct experience in politics came in 1945 when she canvassed

for Quentin Hogg (later...