Read Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality Online
Authors: Jonathan Aitken
Margaret Thatcher: Power and Personality
MARGARET THATCHER
To Elizabeth
Contents
2 The war, grammar school and fighting her headmistress
3 Oxford, boyfriends and political ambition
Frustration, consolidation and engagement
5 Marriage, motherhood and Finchley
6 First years in Parliament 1959–1964
Wooed by the Americans, dismayed by the Soviets
8 Secretary of State for Education
The rise and fall of Sir Keith Joseph
Toffs for Thatcher and other surprises
A stunning result on the first ballot
11 Leader of the Opposition: a fragile beginning
Party conferences and foreign visits
Outmanoeuvred by James Callaghan
The importance of the laughing boys
15 First moves as Prime Minister
Personality traits on and off duty
17 First steps in foreign affairs
A slow start to the Special Relationship
18 Storm clouds on the economy and in the cabinet
The courage of the 1981 Budget
Blockbustered into reshuffling the cabinet
19 The Falklands War I: the prelude
Sabotaging the leaseback option
20 The Falklands War II: into the fighting
Military and political preparations
South Georgia, the
Belgrano
and the
Sheffield
21 The Falklands War III: victory
The changing of the political landscape
The beginnings of privatisation
23 Stumbling into the second term
Cecil Parkinson and the Speaker
24 Terrorism, Ireland and Hong Kong
Accepting reality in Hong Kong
25 Batting for Britain in Saudi Arabia
The motivation of the Prime Minister
Stepping stones towards solving the problem
David Hart: her secret Blue Pimpernel
The NACODS crisis and the collapse of the strike
27 Strengthening the Special Relationship with Ronald Reagan
The gold seam and the fault-line
28 Starting to win the Cold War
Why the Iron Lady was for turning
The Chequers overture to Mikhail Gorbachev
Bridge building between Moscow and Washington
Differences with Reagan over SDI and Reykjavik
32 Swinging towards Euroscepticism
Diddled by the Single European Act (SEA)
Disillusionment with Geoffrey Howe
The dismissal of Geoffrey Howe
34 Exit the Chancellor, enter the stalking horse
Trying to stabilise the government
A bravura farewell performance
Travelling, speech-making and writing
Last months as a Member of Parliament
39 Snapshots of her retirement years
Between
pages 204–205
The Roberts family (
Getty Images
)
All smiles at the Kent Conservative Dance (
Express Newspapers
)
Conservative Candidate for Dartford (
Getty Images
)
Margaret and Denis Thatcher on their wedding day (
Getty Images
)
Margaret watches her children Carol and Mark (
Press Association
)
New Member of Parliament for Finchley (
Getty Images
)
Victory in first ballot of Tory Leadership (
Getty Images
)
Leading the Conservative campaign for a Yes Vote in 1975 (
Getty Images
)
Margaret Thatcher waves to the crowd outside her home on Flood Street (
Getty Images
)
With Kenneth Kaunda (
Press Association
)
Political campaigning with Ian Gow (
Courtesy of Dame Jane Whiteley
)
Leaving Heathrow for European Summit meeting (
Press Association
)
With King Fahd of Saudi Arabia (
Getty Images
)
With François Mitterrand and Charles Powell (
Getty Images
)
Between
pages 540–541
Visiting ‘Our Boys’ at Port Stanley (
Getty Images
)
Welcoming Mikhail Gorbachev to Chequers (
Corbis Images
)
Test driving Britain’s new Challenger tank (
Press Association
)
Visiting Moscow (
Corbis Images
)
Facing questions from the media alongside Bernard Ingham (
Rex Features
)
Reagan and Thatcher on the patio of the White House (
Getty Images
)
Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet (
Getty Images
)
Leaving Downing Street for the last time (
Getty Images
)
Arriving with the Queen at Claridge’s (
Getty Images
)
Windswept on Rannoch Moor (
Courtesy of Lord Pearson of Rannoch
)
In front of a statue of Lenin (
Courtesy of Bill Cash MP
)
Arriving early for opening of Parliament (
Getty Images
)
Surrounded by Chelsea Pensioners (
Getty Images
)
Back cover
Margaret Thatcher leaves Westminster Abbey with Jonathan Aitken after attending the memorial service for the former Speaker Selwyn Lloyd, 5 July 1978 (
Press Association
)