Former Prime Minister Thatcher was in the United States to receive the Presidential
Medal of Freedom. This is the highest honor the United States
president can bestow on a civilian in peace time.

Prime Minister Thatcher talked about the British government and the way it
operates. She said that when the prime minister’s question time
began airing on C-SPAN, she received a great deal of correspondence
from Americans who had been unfamiliar with the British governing
system. The impact of media on the process was also discussed.

Prime Minister Thatcher said the British system of government works very well
for them, but that the differences from the United States legislative
and administrative processes make the two systems difficult to
compare. For example, in the United States, the president is a
combination of the prime minister and the monarchy.