“Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.” – Margaret Thatcher upon election as Prime Minister, 1979

Margaret Thatcher, one of the most consequential of Great Britain’s 20th Century Prime Ministers, passed away earlier today, thus closing a major chapter of conservative and free market history.

At a time when all-too-often we call people “giants” for relatively mediocre accomplishments, Margaret Thatcher truly earned the title. Along with President Reagan and Pope John Paul II, the “Iron Lady” as she came to be called, played a pivotal role in the final phases of the Cold War. She was also an unabashed and tireless advocate for free markets. As Ed Feulner, the Heritage Foundation’s long-serving President, states in a eulogy to Lady Thatcher:

At home, Lady Thatcher’s free-market reforms were revolutionary – and salutary. Using deregulation and privatization, she restored Great Britain, once dismissed as the “sick man of Europe,” to its position as a world power. Indeed, her policies led the way and inspired other nations – including those in newly free Eastern Europe – to adopt similar reforms to boost their economies.

According to the Economist, “She thought nations could become great only if individuals were set free. Her struggles had a theme: the right of individuals to run their own lives, as free as possible from the micromanagement of the state.”

Her legacy is broad and timeless. Just as with President Reagan, Lady Thatcher will always be a beacon of hope for those that believe in individual freedom and the power of principle. At a time when it seems the march of government intrusion into every corner of American life seems unstoppable, we can remember it is not inevitable, thus we continue the fight. Indeed, as Lady Thatcher once said herself:

 “I fight on. I fight to win.”