British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with President Jimmy Carter at the White House, Washington, D.C Photo Credit, Trikosko, Marion S. In 1967, the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) extended an invitation to a rising Member of Parliament named Margaret Thatcher to travel to the United States. Regarding her IVLP experience (then called the International Visitor Program), Thatcher said:

"... I traveled the length and breadth of the United States. The excitement which I felt has never really subsided. At each stopover I was met and accommodated by friendly, open, generous people who took me into their homes and lives and showed me their cities and townships with evident pride."

Margaret Thatcher went on to become the United Kingdom's longest serving Prime Minister and the only woman to hold the post. "Our thoughts and prayers are with our beloved IVLP alumna Margaret Thatcher," says ECA Assistant Secretary Ann Stock. "It is with great pride that the State Department welcomes future leaders and heads of state the world over into our programs."

Each year more than 5,000 International Visitors come to the United States on the International Visitor Leadership Program. International Visitors are current and emerging leaders who travel to the U.S. for programs that reflect their professional interests and U.S. foreign policy goals. More about her IVLP visit is documented in the Margaret Thatcher Foundation archive.