Margaret Thatcher Autograph

Profession:
(1925-2013) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. The longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, she was the first woman to hold that office. As prime minister, she implemented policies that became known as Thatcherism.

Year of Birth: 1925

Margaret Hilda Thatcher was born on October 13, 1925 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. She was the daughter of Alfred Roberts, a grocer, and his wife Beatrice. Thatcher attended Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School and then went on to study chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford. In 1947, she graduated with a Second Class Honours degree in Natural Science.

Thatcher began her professional career as a research chemist for BX Plastics. In 1951, she was elected as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Finchley, a suburb of North London. In 1959, she became a cabinet minister in the government of Harold Macmillan. In 1975, Thatcher was elected leader of the Conservative Party, becoming the first female leader of a major British political party. The following year, she became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Thatcher pursued policies of economic and social conservatism during her time as Prime Minister. She implemented a program of privatization of state-owned industries, reduced the power of the trade unions, and introduced a series of tax cuts. Thatcher also sought to reduce the role of the state in the economy, and was an advocate of free market economics. She was also a strong supporter of the United States and the NATO alliance.

Thatcher was re-elected as Prime Minister in 1983 and 1987. She resigned as Prime Minister in November 1990, following a leadership challenge from within her own Conservative Party. She remained a Member of Parliament until 1992. After leaving politics, Thatcher continued to be a high-profile public figure, and was appointed Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in 1992.

Thatcher was made a member of the Order of the Garter in 1995, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2008. She also received a number of other honours, including the highest civilian award of the United Kingdom, the Order of Merit, in 1990.

Thatcher passed away on April 8, 2013 after a long battle with dementia. She was 87. Her legacy of economic and social conservatism continues to shape British politics today.