Another "ISM"?
You have asked me to speak about Thatcherism. And that is a great honour. But it has to be said that large numbers of less desirable ‘isms’ have come and gone — Fascism and Communism among them: they will not be missed. And if Socialism and European Federalism joined them soon I would be even more pleased. There is only one other ‘ism’ attached to a personal name for which I have much affection — Gaullism. Though General de Gaulle and I would, I think, have had our differences he was a great man with large ideas, a leader and a patriot who revived his country's morale as well as defended her interests. If I were to be remembered in the same way I would be pleased.
Yet, with all respect to the General, I would claim that ‘Thatcherism’ goes even further to the heart of what politics and economics are — or ought to be — about.
This is because I didn't invent it: I and my colleagues rediscovered it.
The values, ideas and beliefs which I was privileged to be able to put into effect in Britain in the eleven and a half years of my Prime Ministership were rooted in the experience of the past and reinforced by events in my lifetime.