May 14, 2008 — Hillsdale, Michigan — In the midst of commencement activities last weekend, Hillsdale College unveiled the first statue in the United States of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Dr. Larry P. Arnn, the president of Hillsdale College, said in his remarks: “Lady Thatcher’s courage was mated with prudence, a moral and intellectual virtue together, the combination making a character fit to govern itself and other free beings. She is here to remind us that we must go about our examination of the most elevated things in an urgent spirit.”

Mrs. Thatcher lent her support to the statue project from the beginning, but upon the recommendation of her doctors she cancelled her plans to attend the dedication. In a letter to be read at the ceremony, she described the statue as “magnificent” and added: “Hillsdale College symbolizes everything that is good and true in America. You uphold the principles and cherish the values which have made your country a beacon of hope. In doing so, you extend to each new generation a commitment to those beliefs which the Founding Fathers enshrined at the very heart of your nation’s life.”

John O’Sullivan, a former Special Adviser to Prime Minister Thatcher and author of The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World, delivered the official dedication remarks. “When Lady Thatcher revived the British economy,” he said, “she was reviving profound social virtues that the British had once exemplified to the world—the Thatcherite ‘vigorous virtues’ such as self reliance, diligence, thrift, trustworthiness, and initiative that enable someone who exhibits them to live and work independently in society.”

Sculpted by Bruce Wolfe, the statue is over six feet in height and depicts Thatcher sitting in a pensive posture. A plaque on its base includes a quote from a 1990 Thatcher speech:

"The new world of freedom into which the dazzled Socialists have stumbled is not new to us. What to them is uncharted territory is to us familiar and well loved ground. For Britain has returned to those basic truths and principles which made her great—personal liberty, private property and the rule of law, on which democratic freedoms everywhere are based. Ours is a creed which travels and endures. Its truths are written in the human heart."

The statue was made possible by a gift from the Patricia and William E. LaMothe Foundation. It is the third in a series of statues that will form a “Liberty Walk” on the Hillsdale College campus. A statue of George Washington was dedicated in 2003, and one of Winston Churchill in 2004. A statute of Thomas Jefferson will be dedicated later this year.