A Foe of Unions and Communism

From Kim Hjelmgaard, at USA Today, "Divisive and dynamic, Thatcher leaves an indelible mark":

British leader stood up to unions, backers of government subsidies, foreign policy doves.

LONDON -- For years after her tumultuous time as prime minister, it seemed as if no one in the United Kingdom was undecided about Margaret Thatcher. You are either for her or against her.

But it's not clear whether the enmity and adoration she sparked in her conservative confrontation of labor unions, government subsidies and foreign policy doves will outlast Thatcher, who died Monday at 87 after a stroke.

"It's undeniable that for certain generations she is always going to divide the country," said Timothy Stanley, a historian and writer at the University of Oxford.

"I remember when I was a student, for example, there was a lecturer who at the beginning of the British political history course said: 'Now we all know Margaret Thatcher is evil, but please don't write that on the exam paper,'" Stanley said. "That speaks to how a certain generation in the U.K. feels about her."

But he said Brits born 20-odd years ago are not going to feel very strongly about the coal-mining unions she faced down in the mid-1980s.

"I know it still moves grown men to tears in some places," he said. "But if you grew up in the last 20 years, the days of Margaret Thatcher may as well be in the 19th century."

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