BULLETIN: Former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher Has Died
Margaret Thatcher: From: number10.gov.uk
BULLETIN: (UPDATED 10:54 A.M. USA EDT) Baroness Margaret Thatcher has died in London, reportedly of a stroke. She was 87.
A statement from Prime Minister David Cameron:
“As our first woman Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher succeeded against all the odds, and the real thing about Margaret Thatcher is that she didn’t just lead our country, she saved our country. I believe she’ll go down as the greatest British peacetime Prime Minister.”
U.S. President Barack Obama described Thatcher as “one of the great champions of freedom and liberty.”
America, he said in a statement, “has lost a true friend.”
“Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will,” Obama said.
Breaking news from the BBC.
Early report from the New York Times.
A statement by Barack Obama, the President of the United States:
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With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend. As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best. And as an unapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew that with strength and resolve we could win the Cold War and extend freedom’s promise.
Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will. Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Thatcher family and all the British people as we carry on the work to which she dedicated her life—free peoples standing together, determined to write our own destiny.
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Patrick
I’ll always remember the phrase “Thatcher the milk snatcher”. She will be remembered well by many, especially the Falkland Islanders, but not so fondly by by an equal amount. The destruction of British manufacturing, coal mines and other traditional (Labour voting) industries impacted Britain, the effects will be felt for many decades to come.
Thatcher not mourned by all as some Britons plan parties
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/08/us-britain-thatcher-parties-idUSBRE9370NJ20130408
Baroness Thatcher possessed power which she wielded on both sides of the Atlantic. What I have learned from industrial psychometric profiling is that people who are motivated by power form intense but short term relationships in the workplace. That was very true in her case. Many of the relationships which she made deteriorated and many became bitter enemies.
What I found touching about Lady Thatcher was the different side of her personality, which she displayed in her personal life. I watched a rare piece of TV footage when she left Downing Street and broke down into the arms of her frail husband. It was very touching to see the iron lady weep.
I watched the low brow TV series “I Am a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” when Carol Thatcher won it. It was fascinating to watch a woman talking about “Mummy” as if “Mummy” was a normal person’s parent rather than the political icon.
I hope to be alive when Carol Thatcher publishes a book about life with her “Mummy” and “Daddy” because one thing British people admired about Carol Thatcher was that the told TV viewers about the parents who had brought her up, without any frills or flounces. It was obvious that Carol talked about her mother as a person rather than a political figure. Carol is obviously just as tough as her mother but she is so normal that she won the hearts of the British people when she was on that TV show.
Hurry up and write the book Carol because I am sure it will be a best seller.
Saying she will be remembered well by only half as many that liked her is disingenuous at best. After the ‘Winter of discontent’ Thatcher took over a British economy as woeful as the American one after the disastrous Carter years. Facing 13% unemployment in the first few years, she turned it around and by the end had 5.8 % unemployed and the 4th largest economy on the planet.
Britain once again showed strength to the world, not the weakness that had possessed it for so long.
Disliked? Probably by the leeches and parasites that couldn’t find it so easy to suck on the government teat as they once did.
Sound familiar?
But for better or worse, people should be able to agree that she helped force the rise of the individual at the expense of the collective. What could be better than union busting and the rise of the individual?
Busting unions that have become too powerful is not a pleasant task. The pain of many working class people in the battle between Thatcher and Unions is heart rending. However the Unions had become too powerful in the Thatcher years and I am glad that their power was curbed.
What we have to remember is the benefits that the Trade Union Movement brought to combat the power of big business. Some of the greatest American authors record the complete dedication of the trade union founders who gave their lives for their ideal. Who could read Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” or Irene Shreve’s Sea Glass without weeping for those who lost their lives working for such a deserving cause.
Baroness Thatcher was a woman with a family and personal friends who will miss her and I am more interested in her personal life than her political activities at this time.
The story of Humphrey The Downing Street Cat always amused me. When a stray cat decides that it wants a home it can usually find a soft heart, who will let it into the home and Humphrey discovered a soft side to Lady Thatcher who let it live with her and sleep on the soft beds in any of the State Rooms at No 10 Downing Street. She had a loving husband and children and a stray moggie who loved her so I am curious about the wife mother and pet owner rather than the iron Lady of Europe