Changes

She led Britain to victory against [[Argentina]] in a 1982 war over sovereignty of the [[Falkland Islands]]. The United States was allied with both countries,  and initially tried to broker a negotiated settlement. When that failed,  the U.S. supported Britain with vital intelligence information. The conflict led to a strong friendship with the Chilean leader [[Augusto Pinochet]] after Chile helped Britain in the conflict.

She led Britain to victory against [[Argentina]] in a 1982 war over sovereignty of the [[Falkland Islands]]. The United States was allied with both countries,  and initially tried to broker a negotiated settlement. When that failed,  the U.S. supported Britain with vital intelligence information. The conflict led to a strong friendship with the Chilean leader [[Augusto Pinochet]] after Chile helped Britain in the conflict.

Thatcher led the Conservative Party to victory in three general elections (1979, 1983 and 1987).  By 1990, her popularity was waning and there were calls from within her own party for her to step aside.  She was challenged for the party leadership, and when it became clear to her that she would not have the necessary votes she decided not to stand for a second party vote in 1990.  [[John Major]] won the party leadership vote, and was subsequently appointed to succeed Thatcher as Prime Minister.  Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister in more than 150 years and, alongside Winston Churchill, many consider her to be one of the two most important British political leaders of the twentieth century.

Thatcher led the Conservative Party to victory in three general elections (1979, 1983 and 1987).  By 1990, her popularity was waning and there were calls from within her own party for her to step aside.  She was challenged for the party leadership, and when it became clear to her that she would not have the necessary votes she decided not to stand for a second party vote in 1990.  [[John Major]] won the party leadership vote, and was subsequently appointed to succeed Thatcher as Prime Minister.   

She fundamentally moved the British economy from factories and mines to services and finance.  [[Time]] wrote of Lady Thatcher: ''"She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century's last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world — Margaret Thatcher played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any would have occurred without her. [[Champion]] of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism"'' [http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html]

 

She fundamentally moved the British economy from factories and mines to services and finance.  [[Time|Time Magazine]] wrote of Lady Thatcher:  

{{cquote|'''She was the catalyst who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the century's last two decades and helped mankind end the millennium on a note of hope and confidence. The triumph of capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity, the collapse of Soviet imperialism, the downsizing of the state on nearly every continent and in almost every country in the world — Margaret Thatcher played a part in all those transformations, and it is not easy to see how any would have occurred without her. ''Champion of free minds and markets, she helped topple the welfare state and make the world safer for capitalism and mankind.''''' <ref>[http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/thatcher.html Time Magazine; Time 100 citation]</ref>}}<br />

==Career prior to 1979==

==Career prior to 1979==