Niccolo Machiavelli, Britain's The Prince

The Prince, a political book authored by Niccolo Machiavelli, demonstrates Machiavelli’s opinion on being a successful leader. Machiavelli states, “But granted a prince who has established himself as above, who can command, and is a man of courage, undismayed in adversity who doesn’t fail in other qualifications, and who, by his resolution and energy, keeps the whole people encouraged – such a one will never find himself deceived in them, and it will be shown that he laid his foundations well,” (page 46). Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister, perfectly displayed this and many other statements Machiavelli made. Machiavelli’s advice, which as stated before, Thatcher manifested, on being a leader is still relevant today, however,
Although Thatcher did help assist in ending the Cold War, installing cruise missiles in Europe and resisting Soviet expansionism, war was not the sole thing on her mind to change Britain. One of Thatcher’s main priorities was privatization, in which she describes it as “fundamental to improving Britain’s economic performance.” To privatize a business is to transfer it from public to private ownership and control. In doing so, Thatcher made billions of dollars for companies such as Exchequer, boosted the economy in Britain, and initiated the privatization boom, which the rest of the world copied. As stated before, Thatcher also focused greatly on an education reform, which was no easy task. A third aspect she focused on was revitalizing the British economy. When she became prime minister in 1979, the top tax rate was 98%, and the bottom was 65%. When Thatcher resigned in 1990, the top tax rate was only 40%, and the bottom was 25%. Citizens could keep more of their own money and buy products from businesses. By cutting regulation, Thatcher
If you want something done, ask a woman.” Thatcher is commonly known as the “Iron Lady.” She was given this nickname because she was always a strong-willed leader that would stand her ground no matter the circumstance. During the course of The Prince, Machiavelli associates cowardliness and weakness with being unmanly. Some might even describe Machiavelli as a misogynist. “It makes him (the prince) contemptible to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate, mean-spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should guard himself as from a rock,” (page 87). This implicates that manliness is a mandatory for being a successful ruler. Margaret Thatcher proves this to be wrong. Thatcher was an extremely successful prime minister for three terms in Britain. At a meeting with Parliament Thatcher was making a speech and flat out said, “No, no, no.” In doing so, she stood her ground, making sure under her watch, the president under the European commission, Jacques Delors, didn’t get what he wanted, which was for the European Parliament to become the democratic body of the community, the commission to be the executive, and the consul of ministers to be the