Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher (born October 13, 1925) became the leader of the Conservatives in The United Kingdom in February 1975. She was opposed to socialism out the of control union power that had brought down the previous Conservative government in 1974 and ran on these issues, resulting in hjer being elected as Prime Minister in May 1975 with the Conservatives sweeping into power. She sold many of the nationalized industries back to private investors and made tax cuts. Thatcher stood up against the powerful Labour Party unions, thus encouraging the British coal and newspaper industries by breaking the power of the corrupt unions who had a stranglehold over these industries. Due to her strong standards and her leadership style, she became known as the "Iron Lady," a term originally coined as an insult by the communist Soviet Union, but one she adopted with glee. Another famous statement of hers is that "the lady is not for turning" Thatcher was always a strong supporter of the the United States of America, and was a good friend of their President Ronald Reagan, uniting with him in actions against the Communists. She led Britain to victory against Argentina in a 1982 war over ownership of the Falkland Islands, and though the United States were allies of both countries and did initially try to wager a negotiated settlemet, when that failed the Americans supported Britain and not Argentina with vital intelligence information. Thatcher won 3 elections between 1979 and her ousting from power by her own party in 1990. Alongside Winston Churchill many consider Thatcher to be one of the two most important British political leader of the twentieth century.