“The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”
– Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher was the first woman to become the prime minister of the United Kingdom. She was also the country’s longest-serving prime minister in the twentieth century. But she is known more for her conservative leadership, particularly in her fiscal conservatism and tough foreign policy. Decades’ worth of socialism in Britain came to a halt in Margaret Thatcher’s economic revolution. The socialism would later return with a vengeance, but she did temporarily return Britain to the free-market principles of the Scottish economist Adam Smith. She would briefly fight a war in the Falklands – one of the few sources of friction in her relationship with Ronald Reagan. (The other was Ronald Reagan’s deploying troops to Grenada, which still had Queen Elizabeth the Second as its nominal monarch.) Overall, though, Thatcher’s relationship with Ronald Reagan would be a good one, and is rightly remembered fondly in both nations. The two leaders also helped to turn the tide of the Cold War in the free world’s favor, as the Berlin Wall fell during Margaret Thatcher’s tenure. The year after Thatcher left office, the Soviet Union would collapse entirely in 1991.
Margaret Thatcher
Early life and career – as a chemist, a barrister, and (eventually) as a politician
But she was born Margaret Hilda Roberts in England in 1925. Her father was a local Methodist preacher, as well as a local politician. His family was Liberal, but he then stood as an Independent. During World War II, her family welcomed a teenage Jewish girl who had escaped from Nazi Germany. Margaret’s early interests were in science, rather than politics. She actually got a scholarship to study chemistry at Oxford’s “Somerville College,” then a women’s college. Margaret eventually got a master’s degree in chemistry. Later on, she would reportedly be more excited about being the first prime minister with a science degree, than being the first female prime minister. Regardless, she read Friedrich Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom” while in college, and was a great fan of the book. She worked for some time as a research chemist in the private sector. She may not get enough credit for being a woman in a STEM field. She married Denis Thatcher in 1951, and became Margaret Hilda Thatcher. She soon had children, and she and her husband soon converted to the Church of England. Margaret Thatcher eventually became a barrister, and eventually entered Parliament in 1959 – beginning a long career there. She was a Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Pensions, as well as a Secretary of State for Education and Science. She also briefly held positions in Fuel and Power, Transport, and the Environment. She had been appointed to some of these positions by Edward Heath. But she had become even more popular than Heath himself. This led to the biggest stepping stone towards her most important position, which was to become the Leader of the Conservative Party in 1975 – beating out Heath, her former ally. She was the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. This also meant that she was the Leader of the Opposition from 1975 to 1979. But, in 1979, there was a motion of no confidence against James Callaghan, then the sitting prime minister. Perhaps partially because of this, the Conservatives came to power, meaning that she was now the prime minister of the United Kingdom. She was the first woman in all of Europe to be elected as a head of state.
Margaret Thatcher
She was Britain’s longest-serving prime minister in the twentieth century
Margaret Thatcher inherited high inflation from her predecessor. She also inherited widespread labor strikes, from a period known as the “Winter of Discontent.” And a recession was then oncoming. She responded by increasing individual liberty (especially economic liberty), and reduced the power of trade unions – both positive benefits of her administration. She also privatized many state-owned companies, undoing some of the nationalization of the prior years in Britain. She was blamed for rising unemployment – and, thus, was not initially very popular. But Argentina tried to take the Falkland Islands from Britain in 1982, which had been claimed by Britain since 1833. The British were furious, and had no intentions of surrendering the islands to Argentina. Thus, Margaret Thatcher retaliated, and the brief “Falklands War” officially began. The British sank an old World-War-II vintage Argentine cruiser, while the Argentines sank a British destroyer. But it was the air war that would prove most decisive in this conflict. Soon, the Argentines were suing for peace, and the Falklands War ended after just two months. The Argentines still lay claim to the Falkland Islands today. But, at the time that I write this, they have never again tried to enforce that claim through their military. Margaret Thatcher’s popularity surged, and was helped even further by a successful economic recovery. Thus, she won re-election in a landslide in 1983. The Provisional IRA tried to assassinate her in 1984, in the Brighton hotel bombing. But she helped to clamp down on striking mineworkers soon afterwards. She also oversaw the de-regulation of the British financial markets, leading to an economic boom sometimes described as the “Big Bang.”
Margaret Thatcher
She resigned as prime minister after 12 years in office, and later died an elder statesman
As Wikipedia puts it, “Thatcher was re-elected for a third term with another landslide in 1987, but her subsequent support for the Community Charge (also known as the ‘poll tax’) was widely unpopular, and her increasingly Eurosceptic views on the European Community were not shared by others in her cabinet. She resigned as prime minister and party leader in 1990, after a challenge was launched to her leadership, and was succeeded by John Major, her chancellor of the Exchequer.[footnote] After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher (of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire) which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. In 2013, she died of a stroke at the Ritz Hotel, London, at the age of 87.” (Source: Their page on “Margaret Thatcher”) Wikipedia then continues by saying: “A polarising figure in British politics, Thatcher is nonetheless viewed favourably in historical rankings and public opinion of British prime ministers. Her tenure constituted a realignment towards neoliberal policies in Britain; the complex legacy attributed to this shift continues to be debated into the 21st century.” (Source: Their page on “Margaret Thatcher”)
Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the Oval Office, 1988
Conclusion: There are good reasons for the favorable view of Mrs. Thatcher
I’ve seen a number of British-made history documentaries, which have criticized Thatcher’s free-market economics. These include Neil Oliver’s “A History of Scotland” (which also gave rather biased coverage of Adam Smith), and Andrew Marr’s “Modern Britain” series – which is somewhat more fair, even if it is still unsympathetic (which it is). But I have a much more favorable view of Thatcher. I personally see good reasons for the fond memories of both Reagan and Thatcher, and their standing up to the Soviet Union. I see good reasons for viewing this as one of the better periods in Anglo-American relations. This is based, not on Thatcher being the first female prime minister – or the first anything else – but (primarily) on her solid performance on economic issues. She is said to have carried around a copy of Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” with her, and was a devoted follower of the great Scottish founder of economics. She oversaw one of the greatest recoveries in world history – which, sadly, was just a brief interregnum in the long history of British socialism. But, although she was not a dynamic speaker, she was a capable debater who could think on her feet. Most importantly, she just had good old-fashioned common sense. The British would do well to emulate her policies – as would the United States, and many other nations today. Socialism will continue to be in fashion in certain circles, I think – but there will always be others who see socialism for its many failures. Margaret Thatcher famously said that “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” And the greatest virtue of free markets is that they actually create wealth for everyone, rather than just taking it for granted while attempting to re-distribute it. The greatest legacy of Margaret Thatcher is in showing that free markets work – and that they will continue to work, if we only give them the opportunity.
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