Margaret
Thatcher, who was the first and, as yet, only woman Prime Minister in the
United Kingdom, passed away at the age of eighty- seven years. As much as
Churchill dominated the thirties to the near sixties, Thatcher ruled the roost
in the UK in the latter part of the twentieth century. While Churchill’s
crowning achievement was stemming the tide of totalitarian fascism that was
enveloping the world, Thatcher’s centerpiece achievements were predominantly
related to the UK where she changed the social and financial fabric of that
society.
Whenever
the name Thatcher is mentioned the name Reagan follows. They were soul mates,
two peas in a pod, orchestrating, in tandem, the social and financial changes
of their respective countries, only separated by what is affectionately known
as “the pond”. They both fervently believed in deregulation, privatization of
everything and anything, ridding society of the Trade Unions and decreasing
“welfare” while encouraging society to pull itself up by it’s boot straps. In
the latter endeavors they both achieved lasting success.
Many
still point to Thatcher's seminal successes such as the resuscitation of the auto
industry by enticing the Japanese automakers to enter the UK and manufacture motorcars
there. Also she allowed the sell off of British luxury cars, such as Jaguar, to
the international markets that brought capital and rid the UK of never ending
losses.
So
as much as Churchill and Roosevelt were the Anglo – American axis in the mid
century, Reagan and Thatcher were the team at the close of the twentieth
century. Thus, inevitably discussion of Thatcher will involve comparisons
with Churchill in the UK and comparison with the “Gipper” Reagan in the USA.
IN
MEMORIAM
Generally
time mellows the legacy of politicians - certainly not so with Thatcher. (As
Marc Anthony would have said, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good
is oft interred in their bones; so let it be with Maggie.”) The mere mention of
her name conjures up the most divisive responses. To the believers she bailed out
the moribund British society and made the UK great again but the left are
unashamedly rejoicing that the “wicked witch” is officially and finally dead.
The sale of the song, “Ding dong the Wicked Witch is Dead” has skyrocketed as a
result of a Face Book campaign. The popularity of the song is so great that the
BBC could not officially ignore it on its music channels. The BBC compromised
by just playing a portion of it on their airwaves.
No
– one, not even Merryl Streep, in her Academy Award winning sensitive portrayal
of “The Iron Lady” could soften her public persona. Streep on learning of her
death maintained that Thatcher just displayed her British reserve not to
display emotions in public. Streep said this role was as significant to her as
“Sophie’s choice.
Time
has not blunted the sharp edges of her image. Like Reagan she was inflicted
with Alzheimer’s disease in the last decade of her life. Unlike with Reagan
this devastating affliction evoked scant sympathy and empathy for her plight.
Reagan’s death resulted in respect and grudging acknowledgement from his
opponents while it was the signal in Thatcher’s case for of a rekindling of the
vitriol that accompanied her “reign”.
MAGGIE’S
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT
What
has to be Thatcher’s most miraculous feat was, in 1975, being elected leader of
the Conservative Party and thus the Premiership when the Conservative Party won
back power in 1979. She broke into what has to be literally Plato’s original
“Old Boys” Club”. In so doing she changed the Conservative party forever.
The
irony was she defeated Edward Heath who, in 1965, had been the first elected
leader of the Conservative Party. Up until 1965 the party leader was anointed
as a result of “consultation” of the inner caucus of the Conservative Party.
The latter was made up of a few of the Establishment who had all gone to Eton.
The change in the manner of election had been brought about as a result of the
“Old Boy’s” nomination of one of their own, the then Lord Hume as Prime
Minister. Hume who dropped his peerage and just became a knight, turned out to
be a disaster. The inbreeding had finally produced a leader that had no hope of
ever gaining credibility.
The
Establishment did all in their power to thwart this grocer’s daughter throwing
Heath out of the leadership. However, it was to no avail and for the second
time in the twentieth century a non - establishment candidate had been elected
as the leader of the Conservative Party– the first being Winston Churchill.
THE
PERSONA OF THATCHER AND REAGAN
There
is not much left to be said about Thatcher that does not sound like a cliché –
her unashamed bluntness, her profound lack of empathy, her open ruthlessness,
her defiance at making any attempt to be "likeable”. Her refusal to budge
on any position of principle and her brutal, condescending arrogance were to be
her final undoing in 1989 when Michael Heseltine did to her what she had done
to Heath. What you saw is what you got. It was said that the softest part of
her was her teeth.
The
irony was she was the very antithesis of Reagan’s public persona. The latter
coming across like your Uncle in the furniture business who would get you the
best possible deals. He was softly spoken and hid his toughness behind a
jovial façade. The end result was the same. Both, for example, broke the
Trade Unions. Both established themselves as an ism – Reaganomics and
Thatcherism and left as their legacies distinct and recognizable political
philosophies.
Both
of their ascensions to lead their countries were reflective of the workings of
politics in their respective countries. Thatcher could never have been elected
to the American Presidency. There has never been a prospective candidate
with so little public appeal. The “likeability” of a candidate is so
crucial in a US Presidency. That is why Reagan parlayed his screen appeal to
the electorate at large. First he did this to be Governor of California and
then to become President. Maneuvering within a caucus, canvassing individuals
and power blocks was not Reagan’s chop so he might just have to have continued
his movie career had he been in the UK. Maggie likewise in the USA would have to have joined one of those prestgious law firms where her inpolitical skills would have got her to the top.
Margaret
Thatcher served three terms as Prime Minister to Reagan’s two as President.
There is little doubt that Reagan could have been elected to a third as his
Vice President daddy Bush romped home.
INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS
Both
were heavily involved in foreign policy. The pair was credited with the ending
of the cold war. Both believed that you had to take a tough line to achieve
détente. Thatcher was labeled the “Iron Lady” by the Soviets and Reagan labeled
the Soviets the “Evil Empire”. Reagan, with the blessing of his UK partner,
built up a massive arsenal that preceded détente. He then negotiated, he
believed from strength, with Gorbachev on nuclear reduction.
Thatcher,
against the current of opinion in the UK and even her own Party, saw the UK’s
future in Europe. Reagan concentrated on bolstering his anti communist allies.
Both too did not hesitate to take on smaller enemies and smash them -Thatcher
in the Falkland Islands and Reagan in Granada. Thatcher allowed Reagan to
fly over the UK when the latter was on his way to bomb Libya.
Thatcher
was the first British Prime Minister to visit in Israel in 1995. She was
an unflinching ally of Israel and fought the British support of the Arab
boycott of Israel.
IN
REQUIEM
Whichever
way one looks at it Margaret Thatcher was a remarkable person. If she could
view the response to her death she would not give a hoot one way or another.
Never one for pomp and ceremony she would have liked to have missed her own
funeral that the faithful attended and paid homage. She would have barely
glanced at the hordes that used the occasion to protest what they believe she
did in transforming the UK from a caring society to a financially efficient
one. The wounds of the smashing of the Trade Unions, that were the bedrock of security for middle class UK society, are still gaping. She led this destruction of the Unions not only in her own country but with her bosom buddy Reagan influenced the whole world. She will be parodied in death, as she was in life –
who can ever forget the forever-running satire that bore her husband’s name in
the title, “Anyone for Dennis”?
Sadly,
for her family, she has another item to add to her, already long, resume, -no
public figure, on his or her demise, in a Western Democracy, has ever been
subject to so much bile. This even before she had been buried.
Perhaps
the most significant compliments paid to her came from Merryl Streep. She
maintained that Thatcher was not sans humanity and that she could not tolerate
injustice, Streep, was “elevated” at playing, what she described as, one of the
most significant and dynamic characters of the twentieth century. Now an
actress’s vocation includes getting into the soul of the character she is
portraying. Merryl Streep, who played Thatcher sparing none of the sharp edges,
is acknowledged by many as the greatest at her art to the same generation that
are vilifying Thatcher and giving Reagan a pass. This makes Jay H. Ell wonder
how much of the criticism of Thatcher relates to her behavior of a ruthless man in a then even more man's world. The comments like that she had the biggest b..lls in the only British Cabinet were rapant and there far more crude allusions to her "manliness".
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