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323154848
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Medal of Freedom 3/7/91 [OA 8130]
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323154848
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Medal of Freedom 3/7/91 [OA 8130]
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13889-039
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Curt Smith Chronological Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection: George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Smith, Curt, Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1992
OA/ID Number:
13889
Folder ID Number:
13889-039
Folder Title:
Medal of Freedom, 3/7/91
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
18
29
1
5
(Smith/Grossman)
March 5, 1991
5 P.M.
MAGGIE MAY
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: MEDAL OF FREEDOM
STATE ROOM
THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1991
5:30 P.M.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends of what is indeed our special
relationship. Dennis Thatcher. Mark and Diane Thatcher. Above
all, the greengrocer's daughter who shaped a nation to her will.
//
America's highest civilian award is the Medal of Freedom.
We are here to present it to one of the greatest leaders of our
time. / For over 11 of the most extraordinary years in British
history, she helped freedom lift the peoples of Europe and the
world. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. //
She has been called the Iron Lady -- / irrepressible / at
times, incorrigible / always indomitable. She summoned the best
in the human spirit -- speaking for our values, and our dreams.
// Once, she said, "Turn if you like, the lady's not for
turning," and she wasn't. Instead, the Free World turned to her.
For counsel. For courage. For leadership that proclaimed a
belief in right and wrong --- not a devotion to what is popular.
//
It has been said that great leaders reflect their time.
Margaret Thatcher did. She also transformed her time as few
leaders ever have. // Consider the 1980s and early '90s -- a
4
Margaret Thatcher helped bring the Cold War to an end.
Helped the human will outlast bayonets and barbed wire. Helped
the lamp of liberty resemble a lighthouse guiding people to safe
harbor. / Yet she remembered how St. Thomas Aquinas said, "If
the highest aim of a captain is to protect his ship, he would
keep it in port forever." So she sailed freedom's ship wherever
it was imperiled. Prophet and crusader -- idealist and realist -
- this heroic woman made history move her way. //
For more than a decade, I have worked with Margaret Thatcher
as a colleague and friend. I have marveled at her humor, her
grace under pressure, her honesty, her fearlessness. // Above
all, I have admired -- and do today -- her fidelity to the
highest ideals of public service. // Her resilience and
dedication -- especially to the men and women in uniform -- set
an example for all of us. I have never met a leader who cared
more deeply about her responsibilities to the people she served.
//
It is not surprising that there have been, literally,
millions of words written about Margaret Thatcher. But let me
close with a passage from Mrs. Thatcher herself. / It was her
final week as Prime Minister -- as her mission changed from
transforming Britain to evangelizing the world. // There she
was, giving one of the most memorable speeches in the history of
Parliament. Teaching. / Exhorting. / Defying. / Dreaming. //
Like Churchill and Sadat and Dwight Eisenhower -- beloved Ike --
the very embodiment of her Nation. //
4
can't lock people behind walls forever -- when moral conviction
uplifts their hearts. // Go to Budapest or Gdansk. You will
find pictures of her in shops and restaurants and churches and
stores. / Travel anywhere where those once enslaved are now free.
They will tell you: The Iron Curtain was no match for the Iron
Lady. //
Margaret Thatcher helped bring the Cold War to an end.
Helped the human will outlast bayonets and barbed wire. Helped
the lamp of liberty resemble a blizzard of fireflies in the
night. // She remembered how St. Thomas Aquinas said, "If the
highest aim of a captain is to protect his ship, he would keep it
in port forever." So she sailed freedom's ship wherever it was
imperiled. Prophet and crusader -- idealist and realist -- this
heroic woman made history move her way. //
There have been, literally, millions of words written about
Margaret Thatcher. But let me close with a passage from Mrs.
Thatcher herself. / It was her final week as Prime Minister -- a
time her mission changed from transforming Britain to
evangelizing the world. // Even now, I remember how she
delivered one of the greatest speeches in the history of
Parliament. // There, she was. Teaching. Exhorting. Defying.
Dreaming. Like DeGaulle and Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower --
beloved Ike -- the very embodiment of her Nation. //
Toward the end, she talked of policies "in tune with the
deepest instincts of the British" -- and I would add, American
-- "people," and of the global triumph of "democracy, the rule of
5
law, and human rights. " / Then, she said: "These immense changes
did not come about by chance. They have been achieved by strength
and resolution in defense, and by a refusal to be intimidated. //
It was a remarkable moment -- you were caught between tears
and applause -- and as she spoke, I thought of another British
leader, Edmund Burke, and how he said: "Here he stands -- at the
summit. / He may live long. / He may do much. / But he can
never exceed what he does this day. " //
Prime Minister, there will always be an England. God
willing, she will forever be near the summit. But there can
never -- will never -- be another Margaret Thatcher. // Thank
you / this Nation loves you / and may God bless and keep you for
all the peoples on this Earth. //
Now, it is my great honor and privilege to present the Medal
of Freedom Award. [READ SCRIPT]: "Three times elected Prime
Minister of the United Kindgom, Margaret Hilda Thatcher led her
country with fearlessness, determination, integrity, and a true
vision for Britain. In over a decade of achievement, she
extended prosperity at home and made signal contributions to
transatlantic partnership, the unity of the West, and overcoming
the postwar division of Europe. With a strong sense of her
Nation's history and of the principles which brought it to
greatness, she restored confidence to the British people. The
United States honors a steadfast and true ally and a firm friend
of political and economic achievement throughout the world."
#
#
#
#
Three times elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
Margaret Hilda Thatcher led her country with fearlessness,
determination, integrity, and a true vision for Britain. In over
a decade of achievement, she extended prosperity at home and made
signal contributions to transatlantic partnership, the unity of
the West, and overcoming the postwar division of Europe. With a
strong sense of her nation's history and of the principles which
brought it to greatness, she restored confidence to the British
people. The United States honors a steadfast and true ally and a
firm friend of political and economic freedom throughout the
world.