John Major (born 29 March, 1943) was the President of Britain from 1992 to 2000, when he stepped aside in favor of Tony Blair. Major was responsible for the transition from the Thatcherite reforms of the late 1980s to open British society and oversaw the general collapse of the British Union in the early 1990s, the move from a state command economy to a free market economy, the 1993 Constitutional crisis and the 1997 British financial crisis (Black Monday), and the worldwide decline of British power. Major was a lifelong member of the British Communist Party (BCP) and was Party Chairman during the Thatcher years, eventually emerging as one of her major political rivals. A centrist, Major sparred with Party hardliners during the August 1991 coup attempt, standing on a tank in front of Westm