When Margaret Thatcher entered the office of Conservative Party leader Edward Heath in 1975 to announce that she would oppose him in the upcoming party elections, he didn’t even bother to look up from his desk. “You’ll lose,” he said flatly. But it was Heath who lost. And Thatcher’s victory became victory for all Britain, for all the world.
Thatcher was a brave woman. It took a great deal of bravery to stand for the party leadership, and then to assume the office of Prime Minister four years later – the first woman ever to do so. But that was only the beginning. Over the next eleven years Britain’s “Iron Lady” dared to take her country through uncharted waters time and again.
Under her leadership Britain won a swift and stunning victory over Argentina in the Falkland Islands War, launched an even tougher war against the powerful and unruly trade unions at home, and became the leader in a worldwide trend toward privatization of industry that halted decades of socialistic regulation and launched what
Time Magazine called “the beginning of a new historical epoch.”
Historians will argue for years over the exact causes of the collapse of communism. But all will agree that Thatcher’s uncompromising foreign policies were key. For example, she convinced Ronald Reagan to rearm America, thus forcing Soviet Premier Gorbachev to adopt policies that eventually bankrupted the country.
Through all of these endeavors, she met constant and often powerful opposition. But she stood her ground relentlessly, confident that the policies and convictions that had gotten her to the top would sustain here in her efforts there. “Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous,” she once said; “you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.”
The world of the 21st century promises great opportunities for those brave enough to pursue them. And this is due largely to the efforts of one woman brave enough to face the challenges before her – the Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven, the Iron Lady, a noble leader whose friends call her “Maggie.”
“If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.” – Margaret Thatcher
The people we've chosen to write about have/had their quota of human failings and foibles just like the rest of us... But they share one transcendent quality: All of them in some way, at some time, acted courageously. We appreciate columnist, Don Wilson, focusing on Mrs. Thatcher’s character and contributions to country and workd because this focus better equips us to appreciate the leadership style of others.
