Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher was born in Grantham, England in 1925. She excelled in school, and after graduating from Oxford, she worked as a research chemist before entering politics. In 1959, the Conservative Thatcher became a Member of Parliament, holding her seat until she was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Education in Science in 1970. In 1975, Thatcher was elected Leader of the Opposition, becoming the first woman to lead a major political party in the U.K. Thatcher went on to serve three terms as Prime Minister of the U.K. (1979-1990). Thatcher was nicknamed “Iron Lady” for her uncompromising politics, which emphasized deregulation and privatization. She died in 2013 after a stroke.