THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603160351
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Short : 29 lines
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will receive the first Thomas Jefferson Medal in Statesmanship at Monticello next month.
Thatcher will be given the medal April 13 in a ceremony marking Jefferson's 253rd birthday, said Daniel P. Jordan, president of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation.
The foundation has given medals for achievements in architecture and law, but this is the first time it has awarded one for statesmanship.
Thatcher headed England's Conservative Party government from 1979 to 1990.
She was termed the ``Iron Lady'' for her forceful manner and policies.
Jordan said there is a touch of irony in giving a medal bearing the name of the author of the Declaration of Independence to a former British leader.
``We think Jefferson would approve of and appreciate the irony,'' Jordan added.
KEYWORDS: AWARD by CNB