SPECIAL EDITION: A Hero Passes, A Legacy Left

Everyone has heroes.  Some people look up to athletes and others celebrities.  I admired Margaret Thatcher.  Now with her passing, I’m left to use her example as one of the guiding principles of my life.

I never met Lady Thatcher, and in fact am really too young to remember her tenure as Prime Minister.  What I know of her has been learned through various books, documentaries and watching clips of her parliament debates on YouTube, all of which confirm that her legacy was the consistency with which she held to her conservative vision.

This is a lesson I have to remind myself of daily as a young conservative living in the Obama era.  Too often I’m left to believe that the core values I was raised on, personal responsibility, hard work and professional success no longer seemed to be championed in our country.  Like many of my “conservative” political friends, I could sway and adopt today’s populist beliefs or be consumed by cynicism only to become disenchanted with our democracy.  But then again, I’m reminded of Lady Thatcher.

The England she inherited as Prime Minister in 1979 was in even worse shape then the post-recession United States of today.  Garbage piles filled the streets, rolling blackouts consumed the country and an attitude of self-doubt filed the British psyche.  Similar to today’s political conservatives, Thatcher could have championed impractical populism to solidify political support.  Instead her course was one of consistency, consistency for the beliefs she had held long before ever becoming Prime Minister:

“My policies are based not on some economics theory, but on things I and millions like me were brought up with: an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; live within your means; put by a nest egg for a rainy day; pay your bills on time; support the police.”

Lady Thatcher’s beliefs were controversial and her legacy will forever be debated. But I ask, what is life without a few bumps?  The fact remains that when she left office, England had been transformed to enter the new century in a much stronger position and the world was at peace.  Could any leader ask for much more?

My task remains clear, that to honor her legacy, I need to remain true to my beliefs: that government should be small and efficient, fiscal management is necessary for our democracy’s survival, and personal responsibility is core to the character of our country. As someone who currently opposes most of the Obama Administration’s policies, my tone must be civil while my criticisms must always contain constructive suggestions, a lesson I try to practice with every entry on this blog.

And now with Lady Thatcher’s passing, a legacy is left is to guide our country, and indeed the world, to hopefully a better place.