For my research paper, I am going to be researching Margaret Thatcher. I am researching Margaret Thatcher because she is an inspiring and independent women who showed that she is just as good as a man if not even better. The reason that I believe that she is an inspiring and independent women who showed that she is just as good as a man if not even better is because she became the first female prime minister of Britain, and served as the prime minister of Britain for three terms.
Another reason that I believe she is an independent woman is because if when there was a planned assassination on her she continued to do her speech the following day. According to Biography. com, her full name is Margaret Hilda Thatcher and her maiden name was Margaret Hilda Roberts. Margaret Thatcher has several names that she goes by. Some of those names are Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Roberts, and Baroness Thatcher. Her nickname was “Iron Lady. ” She was born in Grantham, England on October 13, 1925.
Margaret was the daughter of a local business man, and was educated at Grantham Girls’ High School which was a local grammar school. Growing up she lived in an apartment with her family that was located above the grocery store her family operated. Due to the fact that her father was a member of the town’s council, she was introduced to conservative politics by her father at a young age. Thatcher was accepted into Oxford University where she studied chemistry at Somerville College. One of her instructors at Somerville College was Dorothy Hodgkin which was a Nobel Prize-winning scientist.
Thatcher was very politically active in her youth, and served as the president of the Conservative Association at Somerville College. She graduated from Somerville College in 1947 with a degree in chemistry. She put that degree to use as a research chemist in Colchester and later put it to use as a research chemist in Dartford. Thatcher made her first bid for public office two years after graduating from Somerville College. In the 1950 elections, Thatcher ran as the conservative candidate for Dartford legislative seat.
Thatcher was trying to take the position away from the liberal Labour Party, and knew from the beginning of the elections that it was going to be impossible. Even though Thatcher knew it was going to be impossible to steal the position away from the liberal Labour Party, she still was able to earn the respect of the peers of her political party with her speeches that she gave. Even though she was defeated the first time, Thatcher ran again the following year but once more was defeated. She married Denis Thatcher two months after the second loss. In 1952, Thatcher studied law and put politics aside.
The next year, Margaret and her husband welcomed twins named Carol and Mark. In 1953, after completing her training Thatcher qualified as a barrister. A barrister is a type of lawyer. Thatcher was only able to stay away from politics seven years because she won a seat in the House of Commons representing Finchley in 1959. In 1961, Thatcher was selected parliamentary under secretary for pensions and national insurance because Thatcher was seen as a woman on the rise. Thatcher became a member of the Shadow Cabinet when the Labour Party assumed control of the government.
The Shadow Cabinet is a group of political leaders who would hold Cabinet-level positions if their party was in power. In June of 1970, Thatcher was selected secretary of state for education and science because Conservatives returned to office. Soon after being selected secretary of state for education and science, Thatcher eliminated the universal free school milk scheme and was called “Thatcher, milk snatcher. ” Thatcher ended up finding that the position of secretary of state for education and science was very frustrating.
Her position was not frustrating because of all the bad press that came from her actions, but because she was having difficulties with getting Prime Minister Edward Heath to even listen to her ideas. Due to everything happening, Thatcher was disappointed on the future of women in politics and on a 1973 television appearance said, “I don’t think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime. ” Thatcher was soon able to prove herself wrong. Thatcher was able to become a dominant force in her political party even with the Conservative Party losing power in 1974.
In 1975, Thatcher beat out Heath for his position and was elected leader of the Conservation Party. Thatcher became the first woman to serve as the opposition leader in the House of Commons with her victory over Heath. Thatcher became a leader at a horrible time because England was in a time of economic and political turmoil. England’s economic and political turmoil was caused by the government nearly being in bankrupt, employment on the rise, and conflicts with labor unions. The Conservatives were able to return to power in 1979 because of the instability of England at the time.
In May of 1979 as the Conservative party leader, Thatcher was selected as Britain’s first female prime minister and made history. During her time as prime minster of Britain, she raised interest rates to control inflation and to try to combat the country’s recession. Through her time as Britain’s prime minister, she was recognized for her obliteration of Britain’s traditional industries. Thatcher did damage to Britain’s traditional industries by her outbreaks on labor organizations such as the minor’s union, and for the massive denationalization of social housing and public transport.
United States President Ronald Reagan, a fellow conservation, was one of her dependable allies. Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan shared similar political philosophies. For example, the two of them shared related conservative, pro-corporate political philosophies. During her first term as Britain’s prime minister, Thatcher faced a military challenge because Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands in April of 1982. Due to the fact that the Falkland islands are located off the coast of Argentina, that British territory has been a foundation of conflict between Argentina and Britain.
In response to Argentina invading the Falkland islands, Thatcher quickly sent British troops to that territory to retake the islands into British control. That started the Falklands War between Argentina and Britain for control over the Falkland islands, and Argentina ended up in June of 1982 surrendering the territory to Britain. Thatcher faced more conflicts and crises in her second term which lasted from 1983 to 1987. One of the most terrifying conflicts and crises she faced during her second term would have to be the assassination attempt against her in 1984.
In October of 1984, Thatcher was going to be at the Conservative Conference and the Irish Republic Army planned to assassinate her by planting a bomb there. Thatcher was not harmed at all and was not willing to give in that easy so she insisted that the conference continue and ended up giving a speech the following day. In 1984, she met with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, over foreign policy. She also met with the Chinese government that same year and signed an agreement regarding the future of Hong Kong. In 1987, Thatcher returned for a third term as Britain’s prime minister.
During her third term as Britain’s prime minister, Thatcher wanted to implement a standard educational curriculum across the nation and make changes to the country’s socialized medical system. Due to her efforts of implementing a fixed rate local tax, she lost a lot of support. The reason that she had lost all of that support is because they labeled it a poll tax since she wanted to disenfranchise those who did not pay it. This policy led to public protests and caused disagreement within her party because it was disliked amongst people.
At first in 1990 Thatcher pressed for more party leadership. Her party was in a disagreement because of her policy on tax, and eventually pressured her to declare her meanings to resign on November 22, 1990. In a statement said by Thatcher she said, “Having consulted widely among colleagues, I have concluded that the unity of the Party and the prospects of victory in a General Election would be better served if I stood down to enable Cabinet colleagues to enter the ballot for the leadership. I should like to thank all those in Cabinet and outside who have given me such dedicated support.
For the last time, Thatcher departed from ten Downing Street, the prime minister’s official residence, on November 28, 1990. In 1992, Thatcher was appointed to the House of Lords, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven not long after leaving office as Britain’s prime minister. Thatcher published two books called The Downing Street Years published in 1993 and The Path to Power published in 1995 to educate individuals on her experiences as a world leader and a pioneering woman in the field of politics.
Later she published a book called Statecraft published in 2002 offering individuals her views on international politics. Thatcher was experiencing a sequence of small strokes around the time of the publication of her book Statecraft. Following her series of small strokes in 2003, Thatcher had to deal with a great personal loss when her husband Denis passed away. Denis had been Thatcher’s husband of more than fifty years. Thatcher also had to say goodbye to an old friend and ally, Ronald Reagan, the following year after her husband’s death.
At Ronald Reagan’s funeral, Thatcher via video link gave a eulogy praising Reagan as a man who “sought to mend American’s wounded spirit, to restore the strength of the free world, and to free the slaves of communism. ” Thatcher celebrated her eightieth birthday in 2005. In honor of Thatcher’s eightieth birthday a huge event was held and several people attended it. Some of the people that attended the huge event in honor of her eightieth was Queen Elizabeth II, Tony Blair, and nearly 600 other friends, family members; and former colleagues.
A sculpture of Thatcher, a strong conservation leader, was unveiled in the House of Commons two years after her eightieth birthday. In 2010, she missed a celebration at ten Downing Street which was held in honor of her eighty-fifth birthday by David Cameron because of health problems and made headlines. Thatcher spent two weeks in the hospital later in November of 2010 for a condition that was later revealed to cause painful muscle inflammation. In 2011, Thatcher had to set out of a number of major events due to health problems.
Some of these events included the wedding of Prince William in April and the unveiling of the Ronald Regan sculpture in London in July. On top of her having to miss all of those events, in July of 2011 Thatcher’s office in the House of Lords was permanently closed. Some see the closer of her office the end of her public life. In her later years, Thatcher withdrew from the spotlight and lived in isolation at her house in London’s Belgravia neighborhood because of the memory problems she was having from her strokes. She died at the age of eighty-seven on April 8, 2013.
She was survived by her two children, Carol (daughter) and Sir Mark (son). Thatcher’s critics and supporters debated her policies and actions after her death, showing the impression that Thatcher left on Britain and nations worldwide In conclusion, Margaret Thatcher is an inspiring and independent women who showed that she is just as good as a man if not even better. A short story of Margaret Thatcher’s life is she was a controversial figurehead of conservative ideology during her time as the first female prime minister of Britain.
She was born in Grantham, England on October 13, 1925 and became Britain’s Conservative Party leader. She was selected the prime minister of Britain in 1979 and became the first woman to hold that position. She cut social welfare programs, reduced trade union power, and denationalized certain industries during her three terms as Britain’s prime minister. Due to unpopular policy and power conflicts in her party, Thatcher resigned as Britain’s prime minister in 1991. Thatcher later died at the age of 87 on April 8th, 2013 (Biography. com Editors).
