" You know, if you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything, wouldn't you, at any time? And you would achieve nothing ! "
- Baroness Margaret Thatcher .
13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013)
Margaret Hilda Thatcher was Britain's first female Prime minister from 1979 to 1990 and the Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990.
Born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, England, she was the younger daughter of Alfred and Beatrice Roberts. Her father was a greengrocer and respected town leader, serving as lay-leader with their church, city-alderman and then as mayor.
He taught Margaret never to do things because other people were doing them.
"..... do what you think is right and persuade others to follow you ", he told his daughter.
He taught Margaret never to do things because other people were doing them.
"..... do what you think is right and persuade others to follow you ", he told his daughter.
She attended Oxford University from 1943 to 1947 and earned a degree in Chemistry, but it was clear from early on that politics was her true calling.
The same determination and courage which made her to achieve her academic and professional laurels propelled her even to greater heights in her political career.
She stood as a Conservative candidate from Dartford in the 1950 and 1951 elections.
She practised tax law for a time in the 1950s, but was elected to Parliament from Finchley in 1959.
Two years later, she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Pensions.
Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government.
In 1970, she was appointed Minister for Education and earned the title "Thatcher the Milk Snatcher", for eliminating free milk for schoolchildren in a round of budget-cutting.
In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition and became the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom.
She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. She was Prime Minister from 4 May 1979 – 28 November 1990 .
She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. As Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
She was forced to resign as Prime Minister in November 1990.
Since she left office, she was introduced to the House of Lords in 1992 as Baroness Thatcher.
Even after leaving the office of Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher continued to flourish as a highly sought - after mentor , adviser , author and very important personality in the different parts of the world.
Her final years were spent in engaging herself in worthwhile projects all over the world ; especially speaking engagements .
She travelled the world, touring the lecture circuit promoting her causes and was president of numerous organizations dedicated to her causes.
She travelled the world, touring the lecture circuit promoting her causes and was president of numerous organizations dedicated to her causes.
Baroness Thatcher was indeed a remarkable woman and national leader , worthy of emulation .She carved a path for her self-actualisation in an era when women were supposed to seen but not heard ; when women were told to be silent and to be content with “ the position which God had ordained for women ”.
As it was in those days , same it is nowadays that Bible quotations , always , were used to remind women of their " proper place and duties ".
In that era in the UK when women were expected to accept the roles of “support staff ” to their male colleagues in offices and in almost all careers ; Mrs Thatcher was one of those few women who stood up , stood out and excelled in their chosen professions .
It is remarkable that the young but determined Margaret , rose from being a grocer’s daughter to become the First female Prime Minister in the UK .
As it was in those days , same it is nowadays that Bible quotations , always , were used to remind women of their " proper place and duties ".
In that era in the UK when women were expected to accept the roles of “support staff ” to their male colleagues in offices and in almost all careers ; Mrs Thatcher was one of those few women who stood up , stood out and excelled in their chosen professions .
It is remarkable that the young but determined Margaret , rose from being a grocer’s daughter to become the First female Prime Minister in the UK .
She held on that position for eleven years and half, even in the face of stiff oppositions ; to become the longest-serving Prime Minister in the UK .
In her personal life, she was fulfilled as a mother and as a happily married wife .
She married Denis Thatcher in December 1951 and they had twin children,Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher. Denis Thatcher , her beloved husband for many decades ; was a very successful business man , even before his wife became Prime Minister.
By her excellent achievements, Mrs Thatcher has proven that it is possible for a woman to be a happily married mother ; as well as be a successful woman in her chosen career.
By her success , she confirmed that a woman's success in her chosen career or business is not something her husband should be terrified of , neither is a woman's desire and ambitions for success an "affront , disrespect or a threat " to his ego as the head of their home..
She married Denis Thatcher in December 1951 and they had twin children,Mark Thatcher and Carol Thatcher. Denis Thatcher , her beloved husband for many decades ; was a very successful business man , even before his wife became Prime Minister.
By her excellent achievements, Mrs Thatcher has proven that it is possible for a woman to be a happily married mother ; as well as be a successful woman in her chosen career.
By her success , she confirmed that a woman's success in her chosen career or business is not something her husband should be terrified of , neither is a woman's desire and ambitions for success an "affront , disrespect or a threat " to his ego as the head of their home..
Sir Denis and Baroness Margaret Thatcher
Although she was the wife of a wealthy business man , Mrs Margaret Thatcher was not content to wear her husband's rank , glorying and boasting of her husband's achievements only ; as some married women did in her era and as some are still doing , even today.
If some women were in Mrs. Thatcher's position as the comfortable wife of a wealthy man, they would make sure that they show everybody that they have "arrived" , indeed.
Mrs Thatcher could have been content to put on "airs and graces " and to throw her husband's weight around .
Mrs Thatcher could have been content to put on "airs and graces " and to throw her husband's weight around .
But she did not do that. Instead, she forged a glorious and distinct path for herself which her husband was proud of.
Most people would applaud wives and husbands who join hands to support their spouse , but most right-thinking people do not respect women who wear their husbands' ranks and boast with their husbands' achievements; when such women themselves are unqualified to fit into the "over-sized burrowed robes ( borrowed ranks ) " they dress themselves in ; because they have no personal achievements , neither educationally or otherwise , to show for themselves .
Most people would applaud wives and husbands who join hands to support their spouse , but most right-thinking people do not respect women who wear their husbands' ranks and boast with their husbands' achievements; when such women themselves are unqualified to fit into the "over-sized burrowed robes ( borrowed ranks ) " they dress themselves in ; because they have no personal achievements , neither educationally or otherwise , to show for themselves .
Ironically , in countries like Mrs. Thatcher ' Britain, where the rights of women are well-protected it is uncommon , it is not the lifestyle of most women to flaunt their men's ranks or to sit back , sipping their tea and nibbling on their crackers and relying on their men's achievements .
Neither is it common to hear of stuff like "Association of Wives of so and so Big Deal " or some other funny names.
The mentality of wearing "Borrowed-robes" is unwise , particularly unwise for women in countries where the laws enforcing the rights of girls , of single and married women, exist on paper only .In such nations, in the event of separation , divorce or death of their husbands, wives are treated as "disposables attachments" who , even after decades of marriage and home-building with their spouses, stand the risk of losing their homes , everything they own, including their children.
In unjust societies , enforcing the human rights of anybody , especially of women is an uphill task because demands for justice for women and for the poor are treated as huge jokes by their courts and other law-enforcement agencies .
Women leaders in unjust societies should learn from the policies which Mrs. Margaret Thatcher used to improve women's welfare and to enforce justice for women.
Also they should use their positions to work towards removing not only the injustices against women in their countries , but they should also educate their women about the need for self-actualisation in preference over wearing "borrowed robes".
if their husbands were removed from the life - equations of those wives who relied on their husbands' ranks and positions , what then happens to their own lives ?
Such wives , if left on their own, could not stand on their own feet for too long.
They would become emotional and financial wrecks, who could be likened to foolish children who refused to get an education to prepare themselves for their own future, just because they were relying on inheriting their parents' properties .
Properties which unknown to their children, the parents had sold already , or had heavily mortgaged to various creditors.
Margaret Thatcher was indeed a star among her political peers at home and abroad.
She had vast opportunities to line her pockets by embezzling public funds and she could have allowed her husband and her children to do the same,
They would become emotional and financial wrecks, who could be likened to foolish children who refused to get an education to prepare themselves for their own future, just because they were relying on inheriting their parents' properties .
Properties which unknown to their children, the parents had sold already , or had heavily mortgaged to various creditors.
Margaret Thatcher was indeed a star among her political peers at home and abroad.
She had vast opportunities to line her pockets by embezzling public funds and she could have allowed her husband and her children to do the same,
But there are no records that she did that .
If she did , by now someone would have exposed her corruption and the British press would have had a field day tearing her reputation to pieces.
She and Sir Denis were examples of a "power couple" who was
If she did , by now someone would have exposed her corruption and the British press would have had a field day tearing her reputation to pieces.
She and Sir Denis were examples of a "power couple" who was
