Love, loathing of Margaret Thatcher in headlines [Photos]
This post has been corrected. See note below for details.
Headlines from both sides of the Atlantic show Margaret Thatcher in death as she was in life: a person loved or loathed, depending upon your point of view.
A quote from Richard Longworth, former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, has been repeated often since Thatcher’s death was announced Monday: She was “perhaps the most admired, hated, fascinating, boring, radical and conservative leader in the Western world.â€
As President Obama was lauding the former British prime minister, others were dancing in the streets.
PHOTOS: Margaret Thatcher | 1925 - 2013
“Margaret Thatchers dead LOL,†read a south London movie theater marquee, where Thatcher critics had climbed up to rearrange the letters. In western England, there was a street party that turned violent.
No one was unmoved by Thatcher, as the Los Angeles Times obit tells it. She wasn’t just the “Iron Lady,†she was “Atilla the Hen.†Thatcher, regarded by many as Britain’s most important peacetime leader of the 20th century, “shook her country like an earthquake after moving into 10 Downing St. in 1979.â€
Upon Thatcher’s death, some British publications didn’t bother to pull their punches. While the conservative Daily Mail trumpeted, “The Woman Who Saved Britain,†the Sun tabloid’s flippant headline was “Maggie Dead in Bed at Ritz.â€
On the other side of the Atlantic, Obama set a reverent tone, saying, “America has lost a true friend.†U.S. publications weren’t leaping to the attack. And on social media, Thatcher admirers could be found in abundance -- Buzzfeed has a quirky U.K.-U.S. Twitter comparison.
The gallery above shows some of the headlines from the U.S. and Britain. What do you think? Does Thatcher deserve the ire -- or the adulation?
For the record, 3:45 p.m. April 9: An earlier version of this post said that a street party that turned violent took place in western London. It took place in western England.
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Roger Ebert, Phil Ramone and other notable deaths of 2013
Margaret Thatcher’s funeral April 17; Queen Elizabeth will be there
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