As a national leader, Thatcher’s principal achievements were to reverse Britain’s decline, which had gained momentum in the 1970’s, before her first term as Prime Minister in 1979. Little of the extensive coverage of her death has focused on what Britain was like in those years.
作为国家领导人，撒切尔的主要成就是扭转了20世纪70年代（她于1979年首次就任首相）英国的衰落之势。在她逝世后的铺天盖地的报道中，鲜有人将注意力放在那些年英国的状况上。经济一蹶不振，工会的滥用权势让英国几乎变得无从治理。