When word came out this morning that Margaret Thatcher had died at age 87, my memory immediately flashed back to April 1982.
That was when Britain’s Iron Lady, its first woman prime minister, showed her mettle, her resolve and her unbelievable toughness. I’ll forgo discussing some of the negative aspects of her record-setting stint as British prime minister – the union-busting, for example.
It’s the way she responded to a foreign invader that sticks in my memory today.
In April of 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British territory off the coast of the South American nation. It had been disputing the land with Britain for many years and so the Argentines decided to take matters into their own hands. The military action incensed Thatcher.
Thatcher’s response? She sent a naval task force south from the British Isles to the Falklands. This was one of the most telegraphed military counter-offensives of the 20th century. Everyone on the planet knew what was going to happen once the fleet arrived. The Argentines certainly knew it. Thatcher had given them all kinds of warning: Get off the islands or else face the wrath of our military might.
The Argentines stayed and waited. The Brits arrived and proceeded to pound the Argentines without mercy. The fighting lasted until June and it resulted in the collapse of the military junta that ruled Argentina. The nations broke off diplomatic ties for a time, but they were restored in 1989.
Everyone knew Thatcher came honestly by her Iron Lady moniker. She didn’t suffer fools. She was a classic cold warrior, who sensed that there could be deals struck with a new Soviet ruler named Mikhail Gorbachev. She forged a lasting personal bond with her American soul mate Ronald Reagan and counseled him on how to handle Gorbachev.
Was she my kind of leader? I wouldn’t have voted for her if I had the chance. But that doesn’t matter.
What does matter is that when the chips were down and another nation invaded her nation’s sovereign territory, she responded with firmness and strength.