” I read that the world was a much better place under her and Regan”
Actually it was much, much worse. The Soviet Union was still around. It ceased to exist after they left office.
Interestingly, Thatcher was never that popular in the UK. The most her party ever got in a general election was 43.9% of the vote. And she was big into high taxes including a 90% tax on North Sea oil and the notorious poll tax that ended up driving her from office. Reagan, on the other hand won a majority of the popular vote in 1980 and a landslide in 1984.