Sunday, March 30, 2008

"MARGARET THATCHER PRIME MINISTER OF ENGLAND"


Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of England, b. 1925
Margaret Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister, and first British prime minister in the twentieth century to win three consecutive terms. A lawyer, Margaret first entered Parliament in 1959, eventually serving in a variety of ministerial posts. In 1974 she was elected leader of the Conservative Party, and brought her party to victory in 1979. Espousing conservative ideals of based on free enterprise, she advocated public spending cuts, limited money supply, and raised interest rates. Her privatization programs led to union opposition, labor unrest, and high unemployment rates. She earned the nickname "The Iron Lady" because of her hard line against the USSR over their invasion of Afghanistan, and because when Argentina challenged Britain's right to the Falkland Islands, she went to war. In 1990 she resigned as prime minister, although she stayed in Parliament until 1992.

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