Margaret Thatcher (13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013)

Born October 13, 1925, Margaret Thatcher grew up in the small British town of Grantham. Her father owned a grocery store there and early on inculcated her with the Victorian virtues of hard work and thrift, along with a strong Methodist faith. Thatcher studied chemistry and law at Somerville College, Oxford University and graduated in 1947.

During the 1940s, Thatcher read a book that would have a lasting influenced on her outlook: Friedrich von Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. In her mid 20s, Thatcher twice ran for election unsuccessfully. In 1959 things change and she was elected to Parliament. That election began a 30 year career of representing the constituency of Finchley, in North London.

In 1970, at age 44, she was appointed to the cabinet as education secretary. Margaret Thatcher is considered by many to be one of the most influential women in politics, She gained a strong reputation in England and worldwide as the highest regarded political in recent British history.

Early on in her premiership, Thatcher faced the challenges of recession and high unemployment. Influenced by Keynesian economic thinking, she instigated reforms collectively referred to as “Thatcherism”. She pursued a policy of economic linearization, which extended to the selling and opening up to competition of state assets.
Margaret Thatcher (13 October 1925 – 8 April 2013)