Thatcher's daughter. Thatcher: facts from his personal life. Fatal error

One of the most prominent women in the history of big politics, Margaret Thatcher, passed away on April 8, 2013. How a native of a simple family reached the top of the political Olympus, and who first called her the "Iron Lady", recalls.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher (nee Roberts) was born October 25, 1925 in the town of Grantham, north of London. Her parents were engaged in the grocery trade - with such an origin, it would seem that there was no need to think about any high role in the state. However, thanks to her father, who sought to give her daughter a decent education and realize her ambitions and dreams through her, Margaret showed a great interest in learning from childhood and knew how to freely express her opinion, even if it did not coincide with the opinion of the majority. Leadership inclinations were discovered in the girl at school. Here she received her first nickname "toothpick" for her sharp mind and no less sharp tongue.

Margaret's progress reports show diligence and constant striving for self-improvement. She took extracurricular classes in piano, field hockey, swimming, and race walking, as well as poetry classes.

Father took Margaret to political meetings from the age of 12. His main parting word in life was the following: “There are no words in life: “I can’t” or “It’s too difficult.” Such words are for the weak in spirit.” In the future, Thatcher repeatedly repeated: "I owe almost everything to my father."

The personal life of a girl with a character as hard as steel was not easy. Margaret first fell in love when she was a student at Oxford Women's College Somerville. The son of the count became her chosen one, but the romance was short-lived. The parents threatened the young man that they would deprive him of his inheritance, and love ended in disappointment. After that, Margaret went even more into political life, participated in debates on an equal footing with men and honed her oratorical skills.

In 1947, Margaret received a bachelor's degree in chemistry, and a year later she tried for the first time to get into parliament from the conservative party. At that time she was 23 years old.

It was then that she met industrialist Dennis Thatcher, whom she married in 1951. Soon, the twins Mark and Carol were born in the family, however, this did not stop Margaret on her way to big politics: she managed to get a law degree with 4-month-old children in her arms. Later, in her memoirs, she writes: “I devoted exactly 9 months to my children - the time that I carried them in myself.”

Subsequently, Margaret's daughter Carol will become a journalist and will also publish a book in which she will tell her version of the life of the Thatcher family. The book is called Behind the Parapet, and it portrays the Thatcher family nest as a giant freezer, completely devoid of love. Thatcher herself believed that the house is “the place where you come when you can’t do anything more interesting in other places.”

Margaret was often reproached for marrying for convenience. The money and position of her husband really allowed her to enter politics. Dennis became her support and rear, he fully supported her in all endeavors, morally and financially. And when he died at the age of 88, the "iron lady" cried in public for the first time.

Margaret Thatcher entered Parliament in 1959, first in the House of Commons. In 1967, she was introduced to the shadow cabinet, and in February 1975 she became the leader of the Conservative Party. A landslide victory for the Conservatives in 1979 made Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister. Until now, she has remained the only woman to hold this post in the UK.

During her years as head of government, Thatcher gained a reputation as a tough and unyielding leader. In her office, all work was based on a clear hierarchy, accountability and high personal responsibility. By the way, few people know that the "iron lady" Margaret Thatcher was first named by the press organ of the USSR Ministry of Defense - the newspaper "Red Star". This happened in January 1976, when she announced the need to increase spending on nuclear defense.

During her 11 years in office as head of the British Cabinet, Thatcher carried out a series of tough economic reforms, initiated the transfer of important sectors of the economy to private hands (including British Airways, British Gas and British Telecom were privatized), advocated tax increases and severe restrictions on activities. trade unions.

After Argentina occupied the disputed territory of the Falkland Islands in 1982, the British fleet, on the orders of Thatcher, regained control of the situation in a matter of days. This was a key factor in the Conservatives' second electoral victory a year later.

The most difficult for Thatcher was the third term of premiership. Her unbending stance when discussing controversial issues in the economy caused discontent among both politicians and the general public. So, for example, the "iron lady" categorically objected to the full participation of Great Britain in the European monetary system.

After taking a number of unpopular measures, Thatcher actually had no choice but to leave his post. In November 1990, she announced her voluntary resignation.

In 1990, Margaret Thatcher received the Order of Merit, and on June 26, 1992, Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain granted her a baronial title and life membership in the House of Lords.

During the era of the Iron Lady, a whole political philosophy developed - Thatcherism, which consists in adamantly following the chosen course, despite the criticism, discontent and resistance of others. Political scientists note that at present the main parties in Great Britain, even the Labor Party, share some of the tenets of Thatcherism.

For Thatcher's supporters, she remains a political figure who was able to rebuild the British economy and revive Britain's image as a world power. During her premiership, the number of British stockholders increased; more than a million families have purchased homes formerly owned by municipal councils, increasing the number of homeowners. The general personal wealth of the British people has increased by 80%. Victory in the Falklands War and a close alliance with the United States are also considered her most important achievements.

All the last years, Margaret Thatcher was seriously ill and could not do without outside help. However, her trademark hairstyle was with her until the last days.

From a young age, Thatcher learned to make her own way in life and did not waste these qualities until her old age. The family of Margaret Roberts (maiden name Thatcher) was poor and could not afford to pay for her studies at the university, but this did not stop the purposeful girl and she managed to get a scholarship at Oxford on the second attempt and get a degree in chemistry there. But Margaret was too ambitious, and she quit her job in order to break into the English Parliament as part of her beloved Conservative Party, which has always been considered a "stronghold of moneybags." After nine years of trying, she succeeded. The young politician became famous already at one of her first speeches as a deputy in 1960: from the podium, Thatcher passionately protested against the abolition of corporal punishment in schools - flogging.

After a succession of relatively modest positions in the government, Margaret becomes Minister of Education and Science. Moreover, Thatcher began her activities in this field with a scandal - with the abolition of free milk for primary school students, saving $ 19 million on this. According to Margaret, parents themselves had to earn their children's milk and not sit on the neck of the state. Her decision provoked many protests, and Thatcher herself earned the derogatory nickname "milk thief". In Parliament and in the press, she was branded as a mother who takes milk from babies. The fact that this political measure was carried out by a woman inflamed passions even more. It got to the point that in Liverpool the Minister of Education was pelted with rubbish. And after all this, she was not afraid to raise the school lunch fee, which has not changed for years. The tough decision led her Labor opponents to chant "Get out, you son of a bitch" during Thatcher's parliamentary speech, and the newspapers called her "the most unpopular woman in England." However, she ignored the criticism. Thatcher had the strength and ambition to become the leader of the Tories (Conservatives), and after her party won the election, to take the post of Prime Minister.

And in this position, she began to bend her line - she began to curtail social programs one after another. The politician was sure that every person should decide his own destiny and think with his own head, and not rely on the state. Because of this, she began to mercilessly "crush" the trade unions, which, in her opinion, led the country to the abyss with endless strikes. The Left still cannot forgive Thatcher for destroying their dream of a socially responsible government. They accused the prime minister of building a totalitarian society, in which the interests of business were put at the forefront, and people were fired by the tens of thousands. However, it is worth recognizing that her tough reforms eventually led not only to a rapid increase in the number of British millionaires, but also to an increase in the welfare of England as a whole.

One of Thatcher's last public appearances occurred in 2006, when she appeared at Westminster Abbey on one of the English national holidays. Even then, the woman suffered from senile dementia and suffered several microstrokes.

However, by the end of her first term, Thatcher's rating was incredibly low, and there were few signs of her re-election. But the political career of the future Baroness was saved by the war in the Falklands. The Argentine junta, having decided that Britain was no longer dangerous, seized the Falkland Islands, which the Argentines considered their own - the Malvinas. Thatcher categorically ordered the fleet to be sent to the other side of the globe and defeated the aggressor, which brought her unprecedented popularity in her homeland, and she managed to be elected for a second term, and then for a third.

How did the Iron Lady come about?

However, Thatcher's temper was so severe that in the end even loyal comrades-in-arms got tired of her, with whom she behaved extremely defiantly at government meetings, not embarrassed in expressions. And shortly after being elected for a third term, Margaret was simply deposed from the post of chairman of the Conservative Party, and she had to leave the post of prime minister. It is worth noting that none of her successors as head of Britain can boast of such impressive successes or such charisma.

After Thatcher's resignation, she was a member of the House of Commons for two years, but in 1992, at the age of 66, she finally left politics, believing that this would give her the opportunity to more openly express her opinion on many issues. She was immediately hired by the tobacco company Philip Morris as a "geopolitical consultant" with a salary of $250,000 and the same annual contribution to her foundation. In addition, Thatcher gave lectures, for each of which she received 50 thousand dollars. Also, the ex-politician released two volumes of memoirs - "The Years in Downing Street" and "The Path to Power".

Thatcher devoted herself entirely to politics and was very cold with her husband Denis, daughter Carol and son Mark

By the way, her nickname "Iron Lady", which was assigned to the British prime minister in her homeland, and then spread around the world, came from the USSR. In 1976, Thatcher, who had just led the Conservative Party, lashed out at the Soviet bloc's military preparations, accusing the Kremlin of choosing guns over butter. Although the Tories were then in opposition, the speech of their leader did not go unnoticed: in the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda she was called the "Iron Lady".

Pay no attention to children

Everyone, without exception, especially their own children, described Thatcher as a very cold person, alien to any sentimentality. Many see the origins of this character in education. Her father, Alfred Roberts, a grocery store owner, was a very serious man who loved being alone. Since God did not give him sons, he raised the girls, especially the younger Margaret, not too much in accordance with her gender. On Thursdays, when the shop closed earlier than usual, my father took the sisters with him to the current evening free lectures at the university. If he was delayed, Margaret had to go without him, because she was obliged to write down the lectures and retell them to her father.

The order in the house was severe: no one had the right to rest during the working day, relax, joke. Movies, ice cream, games were strictly regulated. Many years later, the Prime Minister recalled in great detail the few films she managed to watch as a child. One could count on one's fingers the joint family holidays. In such an environment, the girl grew up serious and lonely. She did not understand jokes, and many who know Margaret Thatcher well note that even in adulthood she did not learn to laugh. The chief of her general staff said that if a joke was included in the program of receptions or a briefing, then Thatcher was warned about this in advance and explained what its meaning was. The usual reaction was a puzzled look and a surprised "Oh!"

Carol Thatcher now earns her living by writing books about her famous mother and father, and also from time to time broadcasts on TV.

Despite the fact that she clearly loved her husband, the relatively wealthy businessman Denis Thatcher, and gave birth to twins from him, the family was a formality for her. The three-week honeymoon trip became the only joint pastime with her husband: subsequently, each went about his own problems and was pleased with the partner's non-interference in each other's affairs. Her children - twins Mark and Carol (59) - were born in August 1953. Already four months after their birth, the future Prime Minister of Great Britain went to work. Thatcher later admits: "I devoted exactly 9 months to my children - the time that I carried them in me."

Margaret's daughter Carol said that her mother was cold all the time, far from the burden of family problems and completely immersed in state affairs. “Mom did everything as if she was constantly running a sprint distance, the purpose of which was to get to the office,” concluded her daughter, who also said that Thatcher often fed her and her brother cold porridge and somehow threw away their favorite toys when they seemed old to her.

Now Carol works with varying degrees of success as a presenter on television, and also writes books about her father and mother. But Mark Thatcher, the owner of a fortune of $ 100 million, is much more like his mother. “A son can sell snow to Eskimos and sand to Arabs,” Margaret said of him. Mark was repeatedly accused of using the name of his influential mother in business. Under her patronage, he organized the consulting firm Monteagle Marketing, and after he became rich, he often entered into "dirty" deals.

Mark Thatcher, with the help of his mother, amassed a fabulous fortune, but often entered into dishonest deals and outright scams

In 2004, Mark decided to pull off a scam of unprecedented proportions and stage a coup in a small African state in order to seize its oil resources. He and his friend, former SAS soldier Simon Mann, hired 64 foreign mercenaries for £200,000 and tried to transport them to Equatorial Guinea in order to literally capture it. The investigation proved that with the money of Mark Thatcher, the rebels bought a Mi-26 military helicopter, with the help of which they were going to seize the presidential palace. But the plan failed already at the preparatory stage, and the attackers were caught in South Africa. In exchange for a frank confession, the court accused Mark only of violating the law on mercenaries, sentenced him to a fine and four years of probation. According to rumors, it could not have done without the intervention of the mother. The Daily Mirror wrote about this: "The old grimza should not have used state resources to free her undergrowth."

The fact that Margaret Thatcher had serious health problems in recent years was no secret. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease for a long time. Her daughter Carol noticed the first signs of dementia in 2000. Then they started talking about the events in Yugoslavia and Margaret confused the wars in Bosnia and the Falkland Islands. “I almost fell off my chair, because she always had phenomenal brains,” Carol admitted in her book about the famous mother. In 2002, the former prime minister suffered several minor strokes, and since then, doctors have advised her not to speak in public. A terrible blow for Lady T was the death of her husband in 2003, after which the Baroness's health deteriorated greatly.

People in Brixton, a city particularly affected by Thatcher's harsh actions, did not forget the grievance and, after her death, took to the streets to celebrate this event.

An elderly woman with difficulty built phrases, repeated the same question several times and forgot about the events of the past. “It took us a while to realize her inability to remember a newspaper headline she had just read or remember what she ate for breakfast,” said Carol Thatcher. - Dementia is terrible because it is with you all the time. Patients look completely normal, but something completely different is hiding behind a familiar shell. They live in their own world, in a world where you have no way.”

In the last years of her life, Thatcher practically did not appear in public. So, she was unable to attend a reception hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron on the occasion of her 85th birthday in October 2010. In 2011, she missed the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and also did not attend the opening ceremony of the London memorial in honor of her longtime friend, the 40th US President Ronald Reagan.

Son and daughter preferred to spend time away from their mother, and she spent her last years mostly in the company of nurses and nurses. But despite her difficult situation, Thatcher managed to approve the plan for her own funeral ceremony. The baroness refused a number of honors due to her. The Iron Lady excluded from the mourning ceremony the overflight of military aircraft over London in honor of her victory in the Falklands War. She also asked that her coffin, which was traditionally displayed in the old Westminster Hall of the British Parliament, not be opened for public farewell. To say goodbye to the Baroness, who has a lifelong title of a member of the House of Lords, could come only parliamentarians and a narrow circle of other guests.

"The witch is dead!"

Usually only good things are said about dead people, but, unfortunately, Thatcher's personal unpopularity was so great that many people openly gloated after her death. And while some carried flowers to the government building, others burned portraits of Thatcher, rejoiced and walked around with posters, the most censorship of which sounded like “The witch is dead!”.

The inhabitants of the mining town of Brixton were especially happy about the death of the politician. Some of the protesters even went up to the roof of the Ritzy cinema and folded the inscription from the letters in the poster: "Margaret Thatcher is dead - LOL" (LOL - laughing out loud, which translates as "very funny"). "She was a heartless woman who broke our hearts," David Hopper, general secretary of the local miners' union, said in a statement. After the arrival of the police, the demonstrators began to throw various objects at them.

In a short time, the song “Ding Dong! The witch is dead!" became a household name in the UK

Similar events took place in Glasgow, where about 300 people staged a noisy celebration in one of the central squares. They drank champagne and launched balloons. Note that even among members of parliament there were those who were pleased with the news of the death of the Iron Lady. “Thatcher called Nelson Mandela a terrorist. I saw it myself. Let her burn in hell, ”Bradford MP George Galloway wrote in his microblog.

After Thatcher's death, the song about the death of a witch from the movie "The Wizard of Oz" became very popular in the UK. Literally in two days, the unpretentious composition “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead, performed by Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland, entered the top 40 downloads on Amazon MP3. In addition, the lines from the song's chorus became very popular on Twitter and the social network Facebook.

In early April, at the age of 76, the famous dollar billionaire Barbara Johnson also passed away, and she was buried two days before Thatcher. However, this is far from the only thing they have in common. If Thatcher, born the daughter of a grocer, became one of the most influential politicians in world history, then Barbara, born into the family of a Polish peasant in a poor Belarusian village, became the heiress of a world-famous business empire and one of the richest women on the planet.

Barbara Johnson, thanks to an affair with her employer from a poor Polish immigrant, became the owner of a fortune of billions of dollars

Barbara Pyasetskaya (this is her maiden name) was born in 1937 in the village of Stanevichi in the Berestovitsky district of Belarus. After World War II, the Piasecki moved to the western part of Poland and settled in Wroclaw. While studying at a local university, Barbara went on an exchange to Rome, and then fled from there to the United States.

As they say, she arrived in America with a hundred dollars in her pocket, almost not knowing English. Soon Basya - that's right, a diminutive version of the name, she was usually called in the USA - found a job as a maid in New Jersey, in the mansion of John Steward Johnson. Johnson himself, the son of one of the founders of Johnson & Johnson Corporation and the heir to this "empire" of drugs and medical equipment, by that time had already held the director's position in the family business for about half a century.

The Pole in a rich house did not lose her head and quickly captivated the heart of the elderly "prince", who was forty-two years older than her and managed to live in a second marriage for almost thirty years. The Steward himself, fortunately for Barbara, had a weakness for younger women. He, in particular, was credited with an affair with a 14-year-old sister-in-law. Moreover, later, after the death of the magnate, his eldest daughter said that her father had corrupted her when she was only nine years old. After some time, Johnson rented an apartment in Manhattan for Piasetskaya and began to live with her, and then divorced his wife Esther and married the young Bas. None of the six children of the groom - four from the first and two from the second marriage - were present at the wedding.

The heir and manager of Johnson & Johnson corporations, John Steward Johnson, was crazy about his "Basi" and loaded her with chic gifts

The magnate gave gifts to young love and, indulging his wife's interest in art, bought for her paintings by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Titian. Another gift for Basi was an estate in New Jersey with a Georgian mansion and a plot of 57 hectares. The estate was named, apparently, in honor of the famous estate of Leo Tolstoy, but in Polish - Yasna Polyana.

From year to year, Steward Johnson repeatedly changed his will, each time allocating an increasing share of the inheritance to his third wife. The final version was drawn up literally a month before the death of the 87-year-old magnate from prostate cancer in 1983. The steward bequeathed to Basya almost his entire fortune, which was roughly estimated at half a billion dollars. Among other things, the third Mrs. Johnson received 18 million shares of the family corporation. But all the sons and daughters of the deceased were left with nothing.

Johnson's children were outraged, after which a scandalous trial began. The plaintiffs alleged that the stepmother, aided by her lawyer, Nina Zagat, forced the dying Johnson to change his will. The former maid allegedly morally and even physically humiliated her husband and received his last signature when the old man was already out of his mind and was incapacitated.

The tycoon's most impressive gift was an estate worth almost $50 million, which Barbara named in the Polish manner - "Yasna Polyana"

Barbara denied all accusations and said that Johnson did not want to mention the offspring in the will, as he was disappointed by their greed and scandalous behavior. The litigation lasted four months, involved a total of more than two hundred lawyers, and the amount of legal costs amounted to approximately seventeen million dollars. Each of the parties presented testimonies of numerous witnesses in their favor, but in the end there was no final verdict - the parties were able to agree among themselves amicably. Under the terms of the out-of-court agreement, Piasetskaya received 350 million and Yasna Polyana, while the rest went partly to the Steward's children, and partly went to pay taxes and cover legal costs. As a result, the children of the magnate inherited only about twelve percent of the property.

After that, Barbara moved to Monaco, where she was mainly engaged in charity work and collecting paintings and antiques. It should be noted that Johnson's capital increased significantly during the years of widowhood. According to Forbes in March 2013, her assets amounted to $ 3.6 billion, she was ranked 376 in the world ranking of millionaires and 42 in the ranking of the richest women. Nothing is yet known about how the former maid distributed the wealth she inherited, because she had no children.

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Margaret Thatcher

The "Iron Lady" adored her husband, her son was sentenced to prison, and party members betrayed her with a smile

Glory - both good and bad - went to Margaret Thatcher during her lifetime. They sang abusive songs about her, and made films (“The Iron Lady” with Meryl Streep in the title role is another evidence of this). She was admired and hated. They capitulated to her and betrayed her. The death of one of the most famous women of the past century is an occasion to recall some facts of her biography.

The daughter of a shopkeeper from the provincial Grantham, in Lincolnshire, Margaret Thatcher, who became head of government, and then a baroness, could well call herself a “self-made woman”. Her father, who was a member of the municipal council and even a mayor, played a large role in her upbringing - it was probably he who planted in her the desire to actively participate in politics and public life. A week-long excursion to London by 12-year-old Margaret stunned the girl with the contrast between the capital and the quiet province. Perhaps this was also one of the factors that pushed the young Margaret to plunge into the seething world of politics - which did not prevent her from getting a chemical education (politicians at that time were not the highest paid category).

In February 1951, Margaret Hilda Roberts met Denis Thatcher, a successful divorced businessman and World War II veteran, at dinner. Denis threw her on the train - and this was the beginning of not only a beautiful friendship, but also great love. Margaret Thatcher wrote: “Being prime minister is a solitary job. In a sense, this is how it should be: you cannot lead from the crowd. But with Denis, I was never alone. What a man. What a husband. What's a friend!". Sir Denis Thatcher died of cancer in June 2003 at the age of 88.

In 1953, a pair of twins, Carol and Mark, were born to Margaret and Denis six weeks prematurely. Carol Thatcher is best known as a journalist and author of books dedicated to her parents. Mark Thatcher has a more scandalous biography - in 2004 he was arrested in South Africa on charges of preparing an anti-government conspiracy in Equatorial Guinea. In January 2005, Thatcher Jr. pleaded guilty to a failed coup in an African country. Mark said that he was negligent in investing in the purchase of an aircraft that was intended to be used by mercenaries who were going to stage a putsch in Equatorial Guinea. A court in Cape Town sentenced him to a fine of about half a million dollars and to imprisonment for a term of 4 years with a suspension of the execution of the sentence.

In the archives of Margaret Thatcher, a typewritten printout of a special diet has been preserved with a warning that it should not last more than two weeks. 14 days before the 1979 parliamentary elections, Margaret Thatcher, who decided that she needed to look better, dropped almost 10 kilos. The "pre-election diet" of the leader of the Conservative Party was based on eggs and grapefruits. Thatcher started each day with a couple of eggs and a grapefruit for breakfast - plus black coffee or tea. For lunch, the diet again prescribed grapefruit (it could be replaced with tomatoes or spinach) and two eggs. For dinner, sometimes Thatcher could afford steak, cottage cheese and vegetables during her diet.

On television, British voters were shown a video in which Margaret Thatcher baked pies and washed dishes. In fact, she simply did not have time for household chores, although at times, if there were no official receptions at her residence, Thatcher cooked breakfast or even lunch in a hurry for herself. When Margaret and Denis Thatcher moved to 10 Downing Street, their lives were fairly simple. As far as possible, the couple tried, as in previous years, to have breakfast together. A busy working day no longer left the opportunity to gather all together at the table.

The "Iron Lady" was famous for her taste and ability to carefully select outfits. Last year, several of Margaret Thatcher's outfits fetched more than $115,000 at auction, with about $40,000 fetched for the light turquoise business suit in which Thatcher was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1975. Curiously, when in 2007 Baroness Thatcher met privately with Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown at his residence at 10 Downing Street, she was wearing not the usual blue dress (the colors of the Conservative Party), but pink - apparently a sign of respect for the Labor Prime Minister.

In the spring of 1982, Margaret Thatcher reacted strongly to the landing of the Argentine army in the Falkland Islands. The Prime Minister immediately sent a naval squadron to the disputed archipelago, and on June 14 Argentina capitulated. It was at this time that Margaret Thatcher's popularity reached its peak. However, in general, during the years of his leadership of the British government, Thatcher had almost the lowest level of support among the population among all post-war prime ministers of the country.

The fall in Thatcher's popularity also affected the popularity of the Conservative Party, in which a desire was ripe to get rid of such a leader as the "Iron Lady". In 1990, Michael Heseltine, who competed with Thatcher, announced his desire to lead the Tory party. At first, she was going to continue the fight to the bitter end (in the first round of voting, she was only a few votes short of victory), but then she decided to withdraw from the elections. And after an audience with the Queen, Thatcher resigned as prime minister. She considered her removal from office "a betrayal with a smile on her face."

In 1992, Margaret Thatcher became a peer of the House of Lords with the assignment of personal nobility and the title of Baroness Kesteven (this is a place in her native Lincolnshire). In 1995, Queen Elizabeth II made the former prime minister a Dame of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Britain's highest order of chivalry, of which no more than 25 people, including the monarch, can be holders at any given time.

Andrey Yashlavsky, Moskovsky Komsomolets

Years will pass, and the image of the "iron lady" will acquire new colors, the outlines of the legend will appear, the details will disappear. Margaret Thatcher will go down in the history of the 20th century as one of the most powerful politicians. Without supporting any feminist movements, she introduced the world to a completely new female type, as if her character was intended to show humanity what the weaker sex had come to by the end of the second millennium. It symbolizes the long-term result of women's struggle for their rights, when a woman, leaving the custody of her husband or father, left alone, was forced not only to survive, but also to find a worthy place.

Confident in her abilities, Margaret Thatcher made her take a fresh look at the possibilities of a woman in modern society.

She was born in the difficult post-war years, when the UK was going through a difficult economic period. The town of Grantham, once glorified by Newton and Cromwell, slowly fell into decay in the 1920s. The bulk of its inhabitants were small market traders and artisans. Everyone who wanted to achieve something in life was in a hurry to leave here. Margaret's father, Roberts, had a tiny grocery store in which his daughter's family was helped from childhood. However, the circle of his interests was not limited to trade. Alfred Roberts, a serious man, loved solitude and book wisdom. Since God did not give him sons, he raised the girls, especially the younger Margaret, not too much according to her gender. On Thursdays, when the shop closed earlier than usual, my father took the sisters with him to the current evening lectures at the university. If he was late, Margaret had to go without him, because she was obliged to write down the lectures and retell them to her father. There were heated discussions about politics in the house, in which the youngest daughter took part, regardless of rank, face and age.

Severe order was established in the house: no one had the right to rest during the working day, relax, joke. Movies, ice cream, games were strictly regulated. Many years later, the Prime Minister recalled in great detail the few films she managed to watch as a child. One could count on one's fingers the joint family holidays. In such an environment, the girl grew up serious and lonely. She did not understand jokes, and many who know Margaret Thatcher well note that even in adulthood she did not learn to laugh. .

Her chief of staff said that if a joke was included in the program of receptions or a briefing, "we warned her that a joke was about to follow, and explained what its meaning was." The usual reaction was a puzzled look and a surprised "Oh!" She had to overcome herself in many ways in order to make her speeches at least somewhat light and not boring. At the same time, from early youth, Margaret showed an irresistible desire to be in sight, to be photographed, to speak, to argue. At one time, she even thought of becoming an actress, so great was her desire to convince, to please people.

However, relationships with peers were not easy at first. Margaret was not interested in fashion, boys, ordinary gossip - the whole set of topics that is popular in a youth company. She could speak without hesitation only about politics, and even then with such maximalism and peremptoryness that no one dared to object to her; the argument involving Margaret grew into a sharp, temperamental monologue. No wonder many of her school and university acquaintances later shyly admitted that they preferred not to invite the young Roberts to their parties.

The task of choosing a life path for Margaret was complicated only by the inability of her parents to support a girl, therefore, extremely pragmatic, she decided to acquire a good profession, and only then establish herself in such a shaky business as politics. Margaret entered Oxford at the Faculty of Chemistry. She did not study brilliantly, although in good faith, realizing that a university diploma was just a stepping stone in her future career.

During her student years, Margaret became a member of the Conservative Association, and soon she was nominated for the presidency, which was completely unheard of, because it was the first time such a position was achieved by a woman.

The plastics company did not please the young specialist, Margaret could not find a common language with ordinary workers, who were annoyed by her peremptory, official tone. If it were not for community service in the Conservative Party, the girl's life would have become very sad. The energetic, assertive Margaret was noticed by her colleagues and at the 1948 conference of the year she was nominated as a candidate for one constituency that was unpromising for the party. The girl zealously set to work. She had no car, no money for a taxi, and yet she traveled to every corner of the county. She made it a rule, which, by the way, has remained with her since then for the rest of her life, to get up at six in the morning and go to bed well after midnight. Margaret's performance was amazing. Half-starved, frozen, sleepy, completely uninterested in men, she did not refuse a single, even a short, meeting.

No, the miracle did not happen, but all the same, the result of such inhuman tension was not slow to affect: the conservatives scored in the elections in the district where Margaret was nominated as a candidate, several thousand votes more than usual. At one of the party meetings, which ended late, a young man approached the girl and offered to give her a lift in his Jaguar. So Margaret met her future husband.

The relatively wealthy businessman Denis Thatcher was ten years older than his chosen one, but this did not prevent Margaret from having complete independence and freedom in marriage. Probably, this family will seem somewhat formal to some: their three-week honeymoon trip became the only joint pastime, subsequently, each dealt with his own problems and was pleased with the partner's non-interference in each other's affairs. But for Margaret, such an alliance was probably the only way not to remain an old maid. Denis's mother and sister believed that the young man could find a girl both more beautiful and richer, but the clever Thatcher perfectly understood whom he "bought" for his money. Loving pleasure, with laziness, somewhat frivolous, but not devoid of pretensions, Denis saw his future pride in this imperious, unbending woman, and he did not miscalculate.

Having got the opportunity not to work, Margaret fulfilled her old dream - she took up law. Five months pregnant in May 1953, she passed her first bar exam. And already in August, seven weeks ahead of schedule, Margaret gave birth to twins. The mother herself chose the names of the children, and the straightforward nature of the future prime minister also affected this. The boy was named Mark and the girl Carol. “We just wanted them to have simple names that couldn't be shortened. We didn't like all those nicknames."

Right in the hospital, Margaret wrote a statement asking her to be allowed to take the final exam and by the end of the year she was ready to continue her career. Statistics show that women who have children are not one iota behind in professional growth from childless women. Thatcher, of course, got into time trouble - the twins took a lot of strength. Campaign night vigils did not exhaust Margaret as much as regular feedings. “It began to seem to me that I would never sleep again,” she said. However, unlike many women, Thatcher was full of desire to return to work. The beginning was difficult, somehow she found a full-time job and began to deal with tax issues. The kids were not yet a year old when Margaret proposed her candidacy in the elections, and four years later Thatcher was already in parliament.

Her ascent to the heights of power was not quick and cloudless. But, of course, she was lucky. Two years of sitting in Parliament introduced Margaret to politicians of various kinds and levels, and unexpectedly a young woman was invited to work in the Ministry of Pensions and Insurance. The mother of two children lived outside the city, her husband was always away, it seemed to many that she would never be able to cope with her new duties, but soon everyone saw how efficient she was. No one had suspected her usual daily routine before: four hours a day for sleep, the other twenty for work.

The experience of a member of the government helped Margaret in her new appointment, now to the post of Minister of Education in 1970, when the Conservative Heath became Prime Minister. For the first time England heard this name - Margaret Thatcher ... and rebelled. Thatcher began her work in the ministry by abolishing free milk meals for primary school students, saving $19 million. Only for the very poor, an exception was made, while the rest, according to Margaret, had to earn their children's milk themselves and not sit on the neck of the state. The action, of course, caused a storm of indignation. "Thatcher is a milk snatcher!" the demonstrators shouted. In parliament and in the press, she was branded as a mother who takes milk from babies. The fact that this political measure was carried out by a woman inflamed passions even more. In Liverpool, the minister of education was pelted with rubbish by builders. And yet she was not afraid to raise the school lunch fee, which had not changed for years. Now, when Margaret gave a speech in Parliament, the Labor backbenchers began to chant in an undertone: "Out, you son of a bitch." The largest English newspaper called Thatcher "the most unpopular woman in England."

Soon the Tory government fell, and Margaret was forced to leave the post with him. But now she has entered into a more promising struggle - for the right to become the leader of the conservatives. Her position was almost hopeless. Historically, the party leader candidates under consideration have in the past necessarily held either the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, or Minister of Finance, or Minister of the Interior. This was due to the fact that the head of the party was chosen as a potential prime minister of the country. Thatcher's brief activity in an administrative position, as we know, was not crowned with particular success, and now it was difficult for her to withstand competition among candidates. However, Margaret had one serious advantage - indestructible self-confidence, and there were people who also believed in her. It was during the battle for the leadership of the Tory party that the press first called Thatcher the "Iron Lady". The Daily Telegraph newspaper wrote that even "the dimples on her cheeks are made of iron."

In 1975, Margaret took one of the most prestigious political posts in England, she became the first person of the most influential party in the UK - the Conservative Party. Thatcher became even sharper in her statements, even more businesslike. She did not celebrate victory, did not rest on her laurels, she immediately began to create a shadow cabinet of ministers, carefully considering her every step. At fifty, Margaret looked beautiful. Not because she somehow took special care of her appearance. It’s just that the “iron lady” was illuminated internally with her strength and confidence: not a drop of tension, her eyes are shining, her step is energetic, impetuous - a woman at the pinnacle of success.

Margaret overcame the highest bar in three years. In 1979 she became Prime Minister of England. When the results of the vote became known, Thatcher traveled to Buckingham Palace for the traditional "kissing hands by appointment" ceremony. . This ancient ritual is now limited to one single question from the queen - is the new prime minister ready to form a government. After Thatcher answered in the affirmative, the fifty-three-year-old queen gestured for the fifty-three-year-old grocer's daughter to have tea - the conversation over tea lasted forty-five minutes. Excited Margaret told journalists in the first interview: “I owe everything, literally everything, to my father ...” And it was really so. Alfred Roberts has been dead for nine years now, but it was his ideals that helped Margaret win.

As Prime Minister, Thatcher learned to be more flexible, but she did not change the main thing. She wanted to restore prestige and power to England. And she saw the way to this in making everyone work. She fiercely hated idleness and weakness, did not accept socialism, denied any subsidies and assistance to the poor. Thatcher's first bill caused a public outcry.

Every government started by increasing taxes on entrepreneurs and thereby throwing handouts to the people. Margaret firmly decided that no freeloader would receive anything else from the state. Being herself strong, hardworking, she wanted to make the English the same. As a prudent, economical housewife, Thatcher did away with the budget deficit, forcing the entire country to tighten its belts. Of course, few people liked the hood of "this upstart." But Margaret won. She saved the country from an economic disaster. For the first time since Churchill, Great Britain began to play a prominent role on the world stage. Margaret Thatcher held on to the helm of power for three terms, which is very difficult for a politician, and especially for a woman.

And if it is permissible to introduce a small “fly in the ointment” into the presentation of the stellar fate of our heroine, then, probably, the life of Margaret Thatcher’s children can become it. Their life did not work out as well as the life of their mother. They brought a lot of grief to the successful politician Margaret Thatcher. Mark grew up to be a spoiled, arrogant youngster, relying too much on his mother's position. Carol, on the contrary, was constantly trying to get rid of the shadow of a famous relative and, in adulthood, still indulged in the miserable fate of a freelance journalist. Few of the children of famous parents had an easy life. Of course, the blame for this lies with Margaret. One of her friends once said: "She has achieved incredible success as a politician, but failed as a mother, and she knows it."