Like this or on the bbc or whatever it happens to be, whatever, i need to say that. And not to become what pope francis and another of his brilliant phrases calls a practical atheist. You believe in god but you seek all the secular solutions. Right. In the end, its all about jesus. I said that earlier, i think. Very good. Thank you so much, archbishop. A couple of reminders. This has been and on the record event. Id like to thank the council of Foreign Relations in particular cosponsor the councils religion and Foreign Policy initiative. The archbishop has to take off very quickly now. So if you could give him the courtesy of remaining seated while he takes off. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you very much for your time. The house comes in today considering a number of bills including some on intelligence sharing between state and local officials. Tuesday, they begin work on a longterm transportation and highway funding bill. Current funding expires on notify 20th. Defense programs also on their agenda. Members are considering bringing up a new Defense Authorization bill since the president vetoed the last one on october 22nd. The Senate Returns tuesday. They work on a Water Quality protection bill. A procedural vote set for 2 30 p. M. Eastern. Live house coverage on cspan. The senate on cspan2. Our landmark cases series continues tonight. Our Program Follows the case of shenck versus United States where in 1917 Charles Schenck was arrested and found guilty for distributing literature against the world war i draft. Thats live tonight at 9 00 eastern on cspan and cspan3. Now the life and career of british Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher well hear from former officials and others that worked closely with her reflecting on her character, commitment and her challenges. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us here at the Heritage Foundation in our douglas and sara allison auditorium. We, of course, welcome those who join us on our heritage. Org website on all of these occasions, those who will be joining us on cspan. We remind our internet viewers that questions or comments can always be sent simply emailing speaker heritage. Org. And we have all, of course, posted todays program on our home page for everyones future reference as well. Were pleased today that our program is cohosted by the Anglosphere Society. It was formed in 2012. It is an independent educational nonprofit taxexempt Membership Organization and focuses on promoting the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, free market economies, and cultural events for englishspeaking peoples. In pursuing its mission, the Anglosphere Society holds cultural events for sharing ideas based on the historic values of the englishspeaking peoples, encourages the Anglosphere Alliance through the arts, literature, music and historic travel, acts as a forum to promote and publicize ideas grounded in the values of freedom and democracy, and fosters networks and personal bonds to stimulate discussions on key issues. We are pleased that opening our program today, the founder of the Anglosphere Society, amanda bowman, will lead us. She previously served as the new york director of the center for Security Policy for eight years, focusing there on policing terrorism and the homegrown threat posed by radical islam. This allowed her to work collaboratively with policy organizations and Law Enforcement on both sides of the pond. Ms. Bowman has over 20 Years Experience in corporate, philanthropic and consumer Public Relations on both sides of the atlantic. She also serves as a board member of the intrepid Fallen Heroes fund. Please join me in welcoming amanda bowman. Amanda . Thank you so much, john, and my deepest gratitude to the Heritage Organization for cohosting this event and their generosity in making it all possible. Today we are celebrating the life of Margaret Thatcher who would have been 90 years old today. The in april of 2013, the Senate Passed a resolution to recognize the life legacy and example of british Prime Minister barroness Margaret Thatcher. And id like to quote from the those that resolution because i think it sets the stage for this discussion tonight. Resolved that the senate hobers the legacy of barroness Margaret Thatcher for her lifelong commitment to advancing freedom, liberty and democracy throughout the world. Recognizes that Margaret Thatcher, working with president Ronald Reagan, helped bring a peaceful end to the cold war. Reiterates its continued support for the close tie and the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. And expresses admiration for barroness Margaret Thatcher and her legacy as an inspirational and transformative leader in the United Kingdom and the world. Needless to say, i couldnt say it better. Today, we have nile gardner moderating our conversation today, and nile brings, like the other speakers today, a unique perspective on the life of Margaret Thatcher. As you know, he is the director of the Margaret Thatcher center for freedom at heritage and has worked at the heart of the washington policy world for over a decade. And hes a leading expert on the u. S. uk special relationship and u. S. Policy towards europe. But before joining heritage, nile served as an aide to Margaret Thatcher and advised her on a number of International Policy issues. Working in her private office, nile assisted Lady Thatcher with her final book, state craft strategies for a changing world. And nile also received his doctorate and two masters degrees in history from Yale University and has a bachelors and masters degree in modern history from Oxford University. Oxford university is an important part of our conversation today because we have dr. Alice precassca, principal of oxford of which Margaret Thatcher is a distinguished alumni. Dr. Prohaska started her career as a curator and subsequently as an archivist in the Public Record office. She then became the director of special collections at the british library. In august of 2001, dr. Prokaska took up the position of University Librarian at Yale University, and she remained there until she was elected principal of somerville in the summer of 2009 and took up the position in september 2010. So dr. Prohaska has an expertise on the influences the academic influences on Margaret Thatchers life. We also are honored to have attorney general edward meese, now Ronald Reagan distinguished fellow emeritus at the center for legal and judicial studies at heritage. Ed meese is a prominent conservative leader and thinker and elder statesman and continues a quarter century formal association with the Heritage Foundation. And we are delighted to have him speak to the special relationship in Margaret Thatchers life as Prime Minister, and particularly her special relationship with Ronald Reagan. And we have also with us John Osullivan whos special adviser and speechwriter to Prime Minister thatcher and author of the president , the pope and the Prime Minister. John osullivan is both an author and a journalist and a senior fellow at the National Review institute and also editor in large of National Review where he served as editor in chief for almost a decade. In 1987 and 98 and 1988, he served as special adviser to Margaret Thatcher, covering health and social security, defense procurement and the arts. And during this period and after he left downing street, he served informally as a regular speechwriter for the Prime Minister. He was the principal author of the 1987 conservative election manifesto, a lady is one of the small team that assisted Lady Thatcher in the writing of her two volumes of memoirs. Were particularly lucky to have the opportunity today to have a look at Lady Thatchers life steadily and whole as t. S. Elliott would say. And its a unique opportunity. And im absolutely thrilled and delighted to have this opportunity to introduce everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much, amanda, for the very kind introductions, and a very warm welcome to our three distinguished guests with us today and also warm welcome to every joining us here this afternoon at the Heritage Foundation. Id like to start off, if i may, with the first question for dr. Alice prohaska, the principal of Somerville Thatcher and of course Margaret Thatcher was a student at somerville. She studied chemistry there. She started, i believe, in 1943 on they are 18th birthday. And oxford was instrumental in shaping Lady Thatchers later career. And id like to ask an opening question with regard to the Margaret Thatcher scholarship trust, with regard to the thatcher scholarships, could you give us an insight into what Somerville Oxford are trying to achieve with regard to the scholarships, and perhaps some details about the launch of the scholarship trusts and what youre trying to achieve here with this tremendous project . Well, thank you, nile. The idea is fundamentally to create a permanent living legacy to Margaret Thatcher by creating scholarships that will bring people to study at oxford from all over the world who probably would not otherwise get the benefit of that education. So were following the narrative of Margaret Thatchers life. A woman from very modest circumstances. But tremendous promise and great academic attainment who made her way to oxford where the college of which i have the owner to be principal which is the same thing as president gave her her start. Somerville identified Margaret Thatcher, then margaret roberts, as somebody who was struggling financially and wouldnt be able to get the best from her oxford education without further financial assistance. And she was rewarded with funds and also with an academic scholarship. And she was taught by some of the most excellent tutors in the world. We may speak more about this and her main tutor, Dorothy Hodgkin was the one british woman ever to have won a nobel prize in science. So the college was a very special place. It nurtured and looked after its students, and it taught them at the highest possible level. And we want to continue that tradition in the name of Margaret Thatcher and bring people from all over the world to honor her legacy. People who are going to succeed in life with the same sort of determination that she displayed. And with regard to the thatcher scholarships, inevitably, they will draw comparisons with the Rhodes Scholarships, arguably the most famous scholarships in the world at this time. And scholarships established by the great empire builder cecil rhodes, a graduate of royal college. How do you see the thatcher scholarships differing from the Rhodes Scholarships, or are there indeed some similarities between the two . There are similarities in that we want to create an International Community of alumni of these scholarships. There are similarities in that we are looking for excellence. That is of paramount importance. Were looking for academic excellence, first and foremost. What Rhodes Scholarships do that our scholarships will not pay so much emphasis on is to look for wellrounded people who excelled with athletic prowess. Cecil rhodes was very keen on athletic prowess. We are actually looking for people with very, very strong academic potential and capability. And we then give them the opportunity to develop the sort of character and future and profile that we think will actually honor Margaret Thatcher. She herself, i think, would for the have been a Rhodes Scholar when she arrived at ox forward. Oxford. There are some other differences. That is that these will be scholarships for undergraduates as well as postgraduates, and the Rhodes Scholarships are for people who have already graduated from another university either from this country or in parts of africa, germany, india, and the former commonwealth countries. We are looking to provide scholarships for people from any part of the world, including this country. But they may come from any part of the world. And one distinguishing characteristic which is not specified in the Rhodes Program is that it will give particular preference to people who can demonstrate that theyve overcome adversity. Margaret thatcher overcame the adversity of coming from a very modest background with no university tradition in her family at all. And thats one form of adversity. We will be looking for people who can show already in their lives that theyve managed to overcome. Excellent. And its striking that Margaret Thatcher had to learn latin, i believe, in the space of about five months in order to enter into Oxford University at the time. As you mentioned, came from a very, very modest background, the daughter of a green grocer in grantham. And she epitomized, i suppose, the cando attitude of her generation. It certainly is a tremendous example to young, aspiring scholars who wish to study at oxford today. And one more question with regard to the scholarships. Margaret thatcher was famously denied an honorary doctorate by Oxford University when she was Prime Minister. Can you explain how, in spite of that, the relationship with Somerville College remained very warm for Lady Thatcher, and she always kept a special place at somerville in her heart despite her somewhat shoddy treatment perhaps by the senior officials of Oxford University. Well, she certainly was shabbily treated by the university, and that was a terrible mistake which i think it was great pity that that happened. Somerville college was where she had her roots in the university. And some of you may have picked up niles illusion to the fact that cecil rhodes came from oriole college which just gives you a flavor of the way the college loyalties show through amongst oxford dprgraduates. So most oxford graduates, i think, feel a particularly loyalty to their own college. Somerville was Margaret Thatc r much thatchers college. It was a very special place. It had high traditions with a large number of female firsts behind it. At that time it was an all womens college. And it really gave her the confidence and the support that she needed. And it was her seleintellectual while she was at oxford her emotional home. I think that was very important to her. Furthermore, somerville did not disown her. The college made her an honorary fellow as soon as she became a caber in minister in the conservative government and retained very close ties with her. The principal of somerville, my predecessor, who was principal at the time that Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister was an extraordinary woman in her own ri