Britain's first female prime minister and uncompromisingly
conservative "Iron Lady" of the 1980s, has died at age 87.Tim Bell,
Ex-spokesman confirmed to journalists that she passed away on Monday morning,
April 8, 2013.Thatcher was one of the most recognizable political figures of
the second half of the 20th century. She was a political soul mate of
conservative U.S. President Ronald Reagan, with whom she stood shoulder to
shoulder against communism in the twilight decade of the Cold War. Her
free-market policies rolled back decades of state socialism in Britain and
ushered in what her fellow "Thatcherite" conservatives say was an era
of prosperity that endured until recently."She would be one of the major
figures of the 20th century as far as Britain and British politics are
concerned, "Roger Duclaud-Williams, who had lectured on politics at
England's University of Warwick and was an expert in the welfare state, said in
2008.”She was strongly anti-Soviet and anti-communist. She altered the nature
of British politics. A lot of people feel the strength of the (British) economy
is due to her."With her bouffant hairdo, ever-present handbag and high
voice, "Maggie" Thatcher offered a radical break with the past for a
nation that had strong queens but never elected a female prime minister before
she took office in 1979.By the time she left the post in 1990 after three
consecutive terms, she was Britain's longest-serving prime minister and Britain's
most recognizable leader after Winston Churchill. A biographical film in 2011
starring Meryl Streep brought her life story to many who had never known
her."She was in office for a long time," Declaud-Williams
said."There are few prime ministers who have done as much."Thatcher
never questioned that a woman could lead the nation, and never doubted
Britain's role as a force in the world. She held power as resolutely as a Queen
Elizabeth I or Queen Victoria."In politics," she once said, "if
you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman."
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