Margaret Thatchers Biography - Essay Example

Margaret Thatcher’s Biography Margaret Thatcher is the early first female British Prime minister, who was born on 13th ofOctober 1925 and named Margaret Hilda Roberts. She was born at a place known as Grantham, a small in size market town in the Eastern part of England. Her parents were Alfred and Beatrice Robert, who were known to be Methodists. She was nick named as ‘The Iron Lady’ (Margaret Thatcher (a)). Her father was a local businessman as he ran a grocery and a member of the town’s council. Robert had two daughters meaning Thatcher had a sister and they were brought up in a flat over the shops. She acquired her education at a local grammar school, known as Grantham Girl’s High School. Thatcher took her education seriously, building up a good student and was invited to join Oxford University and pursued Chemistry at Somerville college from the year 1943 to 1947. She was tutored by Dorothy Hodgkin who was not only a scientist, but also a Nobel Prize winner and had specialized in the X-ray crystallography. Her viewpoint was deeply influenced by the scientific training she went through (Biography). In her youth, Thatcher was ever ambitious and hardworking. She never gave up on her goals and objectives. More to that she was known to be a responsible and disciplined girl. She graduated in 1947 and acquired a degree in Chemistry. Her zeal for politics developed at this early stage, due to the father’s habit of discussing with his family the issues of the day as a local councilor. Chemistry therefore, only took second place after politics in Thatcher’s plans for the future (Wilde). She later left for work as a research chemist in Colchester, where she later transferred as a research chemist to Dartford. It is here that Margaret and her husband, Dennis Thatcher, who was by then just a local businessman running their family’s firm met. He later became an executive in the oil industry. Margaret and Denis married in 1951 and gave birth to twins, Mark and Carol in the year 1953. In the 1950s, Margaret trained as a lawyer and specialized in taxation (Margaret Thatcher Biography, n.d). Focusing on her political background, Thatcher realized her affection for politics in her youth. As stated above, the father influenced in building up a liking for politics in her. She began the political life at the university, where she was elected president of the Student Conservative Association (Thatcher 34). During this time, she got an opportunity to interact with many prominent leaders who were doing well in politics. This drew her even more into politics, as she also made herself familiar to the leadership of her party at the time when it had been defeated by Labor in the year 1945. During the general elections between 1950 and 1951, Thatcher ran for the Conservative candidate for the strong Labor seat of Dartford. Though she lost as part of her challenges in politics, she acquired publicity nationwide as the youngest woman candidate in the nation. She also enjoyed the experience she gained through campaigning (Anannya). There she also developed mature political styles. As compared to other candidates, she was able to recognize that she had less struggles in drawing voters’ attention, spoke with less difficulty and great confidence on relevant issues to the audience. After training as a lawyer in the 1950s, Thatcher got more into politics in 1959, where she was elected as a member of parliament for the North London constituency, Finchley. She held on to this position up to the year 1992, when she became a member of the House of the Lord and titled as Baroness Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher (b)). Before then, it only took two years and she was offered the junior office in the administration of Harold Macmillan. When the Conservatives were repeatedly in opposition, from 1964-1970, she found a place among the senior figures of her party and she served continuously as a junior minister. She later was offered the cabinet rank as Education and Science Secretary under the premiership of Edward Health, in 1970, when the conservatives resumed office (Margaret Thatcher, 2013). Thatcher faced even more challenges as her political life unfolded. When she became the education Secretary, she was depressed by some forces that were against her act of progress. Those against her disrupted her speeches and tried all they could to dim her out. For instance, she was nick named as “Thatcher Milk Snatcher” due to her efforts of banning the universal free school milk strategy (Margaret Thatcher (a). She was further disturbed by the fact that she could not make the Prime Minister, Edward Heath understand how useful her ideas were. This led to her failing to believe in any existence of a successful woman politician in the future. She was quoted saying, “I don’t think there will ever be a woman politician in my lifetime” (Margaret Thatcher (a)). This was in 1973, when she got a chance to appear on television. This clearly indicates that Thatcher had political enemies in her entire political life. Later on, she watched herself being proved wrong. She became the prevailing force in her political party in 1974, while the Conservative Party did not make it. This led to her being elected as the leader of the Conservative party in the year that followed and beat Heath for the position. In the House of Commons, this was great achievement, as Thatcher now became the first woman to serve as the opposition leader. By then, England was experiencing economic and political violent disturbance as the government was almost bankrupt, and had rivals with labor unions (Margaret Thatcher Obituary: Her Early Political Life). In 1979, Conservatives were returned to power and Thatcher created history as she marked the first female prime minister in Britain after being appointed. During the time she began serving as the Prime minister, the country was facing economical downfall. However, Thatcher played her role critically and fought against the collapse of the economy by applying effective measures such as raising interest rates to minimize inflation, banning of the traditional industries so as to organize labor and cubing government expenses to control the supply of money, among others. Among many, the United States President Ronald Reagan, was her friendly associate. He was her fellow conservative. She supported an idea that came to be known as Thatcherism where the government was not supposed to interfere with businesses or people’s lives (What Is Thatcherism?). The decision-making habits of Thatcher can be termed as ruthless decisiveness, as they were stimulated by the critical condition of the country’s economy, yet some of the leaders and citizens contested against her legal and effective actions towards saving the nation. She made rare but helpful decisions such as retaking the Islands eight thousand miles away in the South Atlantic. She worked strongly against the opposition but along with the well-wishers by the help of dictatorship and strong useful arguments. Even as the Prime minister, challengers did not stop there for Margaret, as she faced military challenges during her first serving term, when Argentina attacked Britain in the year 1982 (Moore 76-82). The root of the conflict between Britain and Argentina was the location of the Islands. Thatcher took fast action and sent the government troops to reacquire the islands. Her troop emerged the victors as Argentina gave up in June 1982. Her second term was from 1983 to 1987 where she met several rivals. These conflicts were as much dangerous as murder attempts against her in the year 1984. In October, a bomb was perceived to have been set at the Conservative Conference in Brighton, with an aim of doing away with her. The fact that she did not stop the conference and gave a speech the day that followed instead, shows her boldness and confidence as part of her leadership qualities. In the foreign affairs sector, Thatcher made sure her government was at peace with her supporters such as the United States, where she allowed them to use British forces in attack for their enemies. Much alliance between the British and the United States government was seen between the years 1984 and 1986 proving to have the US as one of her allies. In the year 1987, Thatcher began her third term. Her objective during this period was to make effective changes such as incorporating a standard educational curriculum nationwide, and input alterations to the nations’ socialized medical system. On the other hand, Margaret was not very well supported due to her actions of implementing fixed rates of local taxes and hash consequences were said to befall anyone who failed to make the payments (No Ordinary Politician). Although she stood firm with her effective decisions the policy, it cost her most of the back up from the public and the members of her party. It was in 1990 that Margaret experienced so much pressure from the party colleagues and finally decided to resign. She announced resignation on 22 November 1990 (Del Testa 179). She gave a reason for resigning as to offer chances to other Cabinet members to enter the ballot for leadership. In her speech, she did not fail to give thanks to all her supporters who expressed undying support all through her leadership service. She also gave another reason for resigning as to establish the unity of the party back, as many had left in protest of her leadership. A short while after leaving the office, Thatcher was again appointed to the House of the Lord in the year 1992. Thatcher then wrote two books: The Downing Street in the year 1993 and The Path to Power in the year 1995. In these books, she expressed her experiences as a world leader and an innovative woman. Long after, she wrote another book, in the year 2003 and named it as Statecraft. This time she wrote about her views and opinions on international politics (Gilson 159-161). This confirms that our authors need to utilize their opportunities in inspiring others in their works as Margaret did. The books she wrote are up to date of use to many as far as motivation and learning of politics skills are concerned (Margaret Thatcher, n.d). Thatcher died on April 8, 2013 at the age of eighty-seven years. She was active in politics for a total of 30 years (The hollowverse). In conclusion, being the first woman to take part in leadership activities and boldly battling with her enemies and opponents, Margaret is a pioneer woman who left so many inspirations behind. She is a perfect example of a real leader in terms of actions and objectives. Many are the goals she achieved before she resigned. Her habit, of making and implementing right decisions, regardless of the oppositions brought about success. She is a perfect example of a helpful author who leaves behind useful material for the next generation. Her legacy is up to date honored as the game changer as far the position of women in the society is concerned. Works Cited "Biography." Essential Margaret Thatcher. n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. . "Margaret Thatcher (a)." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. "Margaret Thatcher (b)." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. "Margaret Thatcher Obituary: Her Early Political Life." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/margaret-thatcher/8093831/Margaret-Thatcher-obituary-her-early-political-life.html "No Ordinary Politician." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. "What Is Thatcherism?" BBC News. n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. . “The hollowverse” n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. http://hollowverse.com/margaret-thatcher/ Anannya, Osmi. "The Early Political Career of Margaret Thatcher | Politics in Britain." Politics in Britain. N.p., 08 Apr. 2013. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. British Heritage. "Margaret Thatcher | Facts Accomplishments Life." British Heritage. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. . Del Testa, David. Government Leaders, Military Rulers and Political Activists. New York: Routledge. 2014. Print. Gilson, Geoffrey. The Hunt for Margaret Thatcher’s Assassin. New York: Lulu.com. 2014. Print. Moore, Charles. Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography. London: Penguin Books. 2013. Print. Thatcher, Margaret. Margaret Thatcher: The Autobiography. London: Harper Press, 2013. Print. Wilde, Robert. “Margaret Thatcher” About.com n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/thatchermargaret/p/thatcherprofile.htm Read More