If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.
Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to lead a major Western democracy, spoke these words. She served as Great Britain’s Prime Minister for more than eleven years (1979-1990), and led with an iron fist bringing down inflation in England, reviving the British economy, reclaiming the Falkland Islands, and never wavering against the Soviets in the Cold War. Born as Margaret Hilda Roberts on October 13, 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, she was the youngest daughter of Alfred and Beatrice Roberts. Her father was a local businessman who operated a grocery store where the Robert’s family lived in an apartment above. Thatcher was introduced to politics by her father. He was active in the town council and later became mayor. …show more content…
Thus, she became politically active on campus. She was elected president of the student Conservative Association at Oxford which gave way to many political connections for her future. She ran as the Conservative candidate for the Labour seat of Dartford at the General Elections of 1950 and 1951. Although she lost both times, she did win fame for being the youngest woman candidate in the country, since during the elections; she was only in her mid-twenties. Losing never deterred Thatcher. She continued her involvement with the Conservative Party in Kent where she met her future husband, Denis Thatcher. They were married in 1951. He, being a wealthy businessman, funded her studies for the bar, and she became a barrister in 1953. It was that same year she and her husband excitedly welcomed their twins, Mark and Carol into their