The Genius of Thatcherism Will Endure
No tolerance for deficits or the 'pre-emptive cringe'—a message for politics today.
Seldom does the emergence of a single individual undeniably change the course of history. It was true of Winston Churchill becoming prime minister in May 1940, of course, but normally one person's efforts cannot significantly alter the tide of human events. Yet undoubtedly such a person was Margaret Thatcher, for it is no exaggeration to say that she saved Great Britain from bankruptcy, made it great again, won a war and with Ronald Reagan helped sound the death knell of Soviet communism.
Yet her obituaries on both the left and the right hint that her battles were all in the past, that she was solely a figure from an earlier era, whose struggles bear no relation to today's politics. Nothing could be further from the truth. The principles that she established—which together form the coherent political program called Thatcherism—have perhaps more relevance now than at any time since the 1980s. To write her off as a historical figure is to discard the timelessness, and thus the most important aspect, of her political thought.
With the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (the so-called P5+1) nowadays adopting what she once described in another context as "the politics of the pre-emptive cringe" toward Iran's development of a nuclear bomb, we could do with the late Lady Thatcher's clear-sighted and full-throated denunciation of pusillanimity in international affairs. When she was in power, her attitude toward dictatorships' threats and bullying—be it the Argentine junta over the Falkland Islands or Saddam Hussein before the Gulf War—was precisely the tough and uncompromising stance from which the P5+1 group constantly shrinks. The advice she gave to President George H.W. Bush in 1990—"This is no time to go wobbly, George"—is desperately needed today.
Similarly, her support for Israel was lifelong and unwavering. When asked about anti-Semitism she said: "I simply did not understand it," and she denounced members of her own constituency association who excluded Jews from the local golf club. When asked in later life what her greatest single achievement was, she replied that it had come in the late 1930s, when she was 12 and raised money to help save a 17-year-old Austrian Jewish girl from the Nazis by bringing her to Britain.
Margaret Thatcher hated deficits with all the power that a grocer's daughter might be expected to hate indebtedness. Despite inheriting a disastrous economy from the Labour Party in 1979—the top income-tax rate was 98% and public-sector strikes were crippling British industry—she managed to increase growth and productivity to such an extent that she could leave office with a top tax rate of 40% and growth rates mirroring those of her beloved America. Sadly, her mind slipped into the shadows in the early part of this century, otherwise it would have been highly enlightening to hear her opinion of the astronomical deficits being run by the Obama administration today.
Similarly, it would be marvelous to hear her assess the state of the European Union today, as every one of her predictions of the dangers of economic and monetary union have been shown to be correct. Lord Salisbury once said that the four cruellest words in the English language are "I told you so." How often did Margaret Thatcher tell Brussels and Europhiles that a system in which all European economies of whatever size, shape and type were strait-jacketed into uniform interest and exchange rates would inevitably fail? She saw the danger. Perhaps she could point the way out.
When it was proposed that the British pound should give way to the euro, she memorably cried out in the House of Commons, "No! No! No!" Britons should look at Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy today and laud her for her foresight, yet it was over the question of European integration that she was ultimately defenestrated by a small but determined cabal within the Conservative Party.
"Democracy isn't just about deducing what the people want," she once said. "Democracy is leading the people as well." How often does one see that in today's opinion-poll, focus-group-driven politics? Of the political U-turns that "the wets" within her own party so wanted in 1981, she told the Tory Party Conference: "You turn if you want to; the lady's not for turning."
Unlike too many politicians today, she had a visceral sense of politics—and of right and wrong. On the bicentenary of the fall of the Bastille, for example, her guts told her that it was wrong to join the French in celebrating a revolution that brought bloodshed, war and republicanism, so she forbade the British ambassador to attend, amid much grinding of teeth in the Foreign Office. Can one imagine any modern politician making such a magnificent gesture today?
Similarly she reveled in the abuse that her enemies directed at her. When the Soviet propaganda ministry pinned the label "Iron Lady" on her, it was meant to draw attention to her inflexibility. "Any leader has to have a certain amount of steel in them," she replied, "so I am not that put out being called the Iron Lady." How much does the West today need statesmen who treat personal popularity as an unimportant byproduct of the larger battles that they wish to fight, and who trust the people to re-elect them even if voters don't particularly like them?
As someone who knew her well, I can attest that there was plenty to like as well as to admire in Margaret Thatcher, but she never put likability high on her list. She had a job to do. When a few years ago Hillary Clinton likened herself to Margaret Thatcher, it would have been easy to accept what was certainly intended as a compliment, but instead Lady Thatcher expostulated: "She's not in the least like me; I know because I'm not in the least like her!"
Now that Lady Thatcher is dead, we must not turn her into a mere cozy historical figure, shorn of the ideological convictions that are for the ages. Thatcherism will always remain, and the world is better for it.
Mr. Roberts, a historian, was appointed by Margaret Thatcher as a Trustee of the Margaret Thatcher Archive Trust.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324050304578410692913779414.html?KEYWORDS=andrew+roberts+and+thatcher
Yet her obituaries on both the left and the right hint that her battles were all in the past, that she was solely a figure from an earlier era, whose struggles bear no relation to today's politics. Nothing could be further from the truth. The principles that she established—which together form the coherent political program called Thatcherism—have perhaps more relevance now than at any time since the 1980s. To write her off as a historical figure is to discard the timelessness, and thus the most important aspect, of her political thought.
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Columnist Bret Stephens on the foreign policy lessons of Margaret Thatcher’s rule. Photos: AP
Similarly, her support for Israel was lifelong and unwavering. When asked about anti-Semitism she said: "I simply did not understand it," and she denounced members of her own constituency association who excluded Jews from the local golf club. When asked in later life what her greatest single achievement was, she replied that it had come in the late 1930s, when she was 12 and raised money to help save a 17-year-old Austrian Jewish girl from the Nazis by bringing her to Britain.
Margaret Thatcher hated deficits with all the power that a grocer's daughter might be expected to hate indebtedness. Despite inheriting a disastrous economy from the Labour Party in 1979—the top income-tax rate was 98% and public-sector strikes were crippling British industry—she managed to increase growth and productivity to such an extent that she could leave office with a top tax rate of 40% and growth rates mirroring those of her beloved America. Sadly, her mind slipped into the shadows in the early part of this century, otherwise it would have been highly enlightening to hear her opinion of the astronomical deficits being run by the Obama administration today.
Similarly, it would be marvelous to hear her assess the state of the European Union today, as every one of her predictions of the dangers of economic and monetary union have been shown to be correct. Lord Salisbury once said that the four cruellest words in the English language are "I told you so." How often did Margaret Thatcher tell Brussels and Europhiles that a system in which all European economies of whatever size, shape and type were strait-jacketed into uniform interest and exchange rates would inevitably fail? She saw the danger. Perhaps she could point the way out.
When it was proposed that the British pound should give way to the euro, she memorably cried out in the House of Commons, "No! No! No!" Britons should look at Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy today and laud her for her foresight, yet it was over the question of European integration that she was ultimately defenestrated by a small but determined cabal within the Conservative Party.
"Democracy isn't just about deducing what the people want," she once said. "Democracy is leading the people as well." How often does one see that in today's opinion-poll, focus-group-driven politics? Of the political U-turns that "the wets" within her own party so wanted in 1981, she told the Tory Party Conference: "You turn if you want to; the lady's not for turning."
Unlike too many politicians today, she had a visceral sense of politics—and of right and wrong. On the bicentenary of the fall of the Bastille, for example, her guts told her that it was wrong to join the French in celebrating a revolution that brought bloodshed, war and republicanism, so she forbade the British ambassador to attend, amid much grinding of teeth in the Foreign Office. Can one imagine any modern politician making such a magnificent gesture today?
Similarly she reveled in the abuse that her enemies directed at her. When the Soviet propaganda ministry pinned the label "Iron Lady" on her, it was meant to draw attention to her inflexibility. "Any leader has to have a certain amount of steel in them," she replied, "so I am not that put out being called the Iron Lady." How much does the West today need statesmen who treat personal popularity as an unimportant byproduct of the larger battles that they wish to fight, and who trust the people to re-elect them even if voters don't particularly like them?
As someone who knew her well, I can attest that there was plenty to like as well as to admire in Margaret Thatcher, but she never put likability high on her list. She had a job to do. When a few years ago Hillary Clinton likened herself to Margaret Thatcher, it would have been easy to accept what was certainly intended as a compliment, but instead Lady Thatcher expostulated: "She's not in the least like me; I know because I'm not in the least like her!"
Now that Lady Thatcher is dead, we must not turn her into a mere cozy historical figure, shorn of the ideological convictions that are for the ages. Thatcherism will always remain, and the world is better for it.
Mr. Roberts, a historian, was appointed by Margaret Thatcher as a Trustee of the Margaret Thatcher Archive Trust.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324050304578410692913779414.html?KEYWORDS=andrew+roberts+and+thatcher
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