這才是民主的力量：当他们在战争进行到一半时解雇首相， 你在那里得到了什么样的一个国家？

 

整个晚上，直到第二天，撒切尔目睹了财富的潮水退去。

她逐一采访了内阁成员，他们都告诉她，尽管他个人当然支持她，但遗憾的是，她无法在另一次投票中获胜。

到了11月21日午夜，在搁浅后，她决定辞职。

第二天上午9点，她向她的内阁正式宣布了这个决定。

正如我当时对鲍威尔所说，她的辞职感觉'比家庭中的死亡还要糟糕'。

 

All night and into the next day, Thatcher witnessed fortune’s tide receding. She interviewed cabinet members one by one, who all told her that, though of course he personally supported her, regrettably she could not prevail in another vote. By midnight on November 21, having run aground, she decided to resign. At 9 a.m. the following morning, she formally announced the decision to her cabinet. As I said to Powell at the time, her resignation felt ‘worse than a death in the family’.[139]

 

对大多数美国观察家来说，撒切尔的倒台是令人费解的。

她在世界舞台上取得的巨大成就以及她在美国享有的巨大信任，

使人难以理解她的保守派同僚为什么要把她赶走。

布什总统在访问沙特阿拉伯时听到了这个消息，他感到很沮丧，当时他正在访问正在集结的联军部队，以击退科威特的伊拉克军队。

诺曼-施瓦茨科夫（Norman Schwarzkopf）将军代表英国的许多朋友，要求他的英国同行：

”当他们在战争进行到一半时解雇首相，

你在那里得到了什么样的一个国家？

 

To most American observers, Thatcher’s fall was mystifying. The magnitude of her achievements on the world stage and the substantial confidence she enjoyed in America made it difficult to understand why her fellow Conservatives would oust her. President Bush was crestfallen when he heard the news during a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he was visiting coalition troops who were massing to repel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. General Norman Schwarzkopf spoke for many friends of Britain when he demanded of his British counterpart: ‘What sort of a country have you got there when they sack the Prime Minister halfway through a war?’[140]