Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former
United States PresidentThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and was
First Lady of the United StatesFirst Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
from 1981 to 1989.
Nancy was born in New York City; her parents divorced soon after her birth and she grew up in Maryland, living with an aunt and uncle while her mother pursued acting jobs. As
Nancy Davis, she was an actress in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s, starring in films such as
Donovan's BrainDonovan's Brain is a 1953 film, starring Lew Ayres, Gene Evans, and Nancy Reagan , based on the 1942 horror novel Donovan's Brain by Curt Siodmak.-Plot:...
, Night into Morning, and
Hellcats of the NavyHellcats of the Navy is a World War II submarine movie starring Ronald Reagan and his wife, billed as Nancy Davis, her then professional name...
. In 1952 she married Ronald Reagan, who was then president of the
Screen Actors GuildThe Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, and they had two children. Nancy was the First Lady of
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
when her husband was
GovernorThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
from 1967 to 1975. In that capacity, she began work with the Foster Grandparents Program.
Nancy Reagan became First Lady of the United States in January 1981 following her
husband's electionThe United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
. She was criticized early in his first term largely due to her decision to replace the
White House chinaThe White House china is the various patterns of china used for serving and eating food in the White House, home of the President of the United States. Different china services have been ordered and used by different presidential administrations. The White House collection of china is housed in...
, despite it being paid for by private donations. Nancy restored a
KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
-esque glamor to the White House following years of lax formality, and her interest in high-end fashion garnered much attention, as well as criticism. She championed
recreational drug preventionRecreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
causes by founding the "
Just Say No"Just Say No" was an advertising campaign, part of the U.S. "War on Drugs", prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s, to discourage children from engaging in recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying no. Eventually, this also expanded the realm of "Just Say No" to violence and...
" drug awareness campaign, which was considered her major initiative as first lady. Always protective of her husband, more controversy ensued when it was revealed in 1988 that she had consulted an
astrologerAn astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
to assist in planning the president's schedule after the
1981 assassination attemptThe Reagan assassination attempt occurred on Monday, March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr...
on her husband. She had a strong influence on her husband and played a role in a few of his personnel and diplomatic decisions.
The Reagans retired to their home in Bel Air,
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1989. Nancy devoted most of her time to caring for her ailing husband, diagnosed in 1994 with
Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, until
his death in 2004On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed, spanning June 5–11...
. Nancy Reagan has remained active within the
Reagan LibraryThe Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...
and in politics, particularly in support of
stem-cell researchThe stem cell controversy is the ethical debate primarily concerning the creation, treatment, and destruction of human embryos incident to research involving embryonic stem cells. Not all stem cell research involves the creation, use, or destruction of human embryos...
.
Early life
Anne Frances Robbins was born on July 6, 1921, at
ManhattanManhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's
Sloane Hospital for WomenThe Sloane Hospital for Women is the obstetrics and gynecology service within New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City....
in New York, as the only child of car salesman Kenneth Seymour Robbins (1894–1972) and his actress wife,
Edith LuckettEdith Luckett Davis was a film and Broadway stage actress in the 1910s and 1920s, and was the mother of Nancy Reagan, wife of U.S...
(1888–1987). Her godmother was silent-film-star
Alla NazimovaAlla Nazimova , was a Russian American film and theatre actress, a screenwriter and film producer. She is perhaps best known as simply Nazimova, but also went under the name Alia Nasimoff.-Early life:...
. She lived her first two years in
Flushing, QueensFlushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
, in New York. While her parents divorced soon after her birth, they had already been separated for some time. As her mother traveled the country to pursue acting jobs, Nancy was raised in
BethesdaBethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
,
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
for the next six years by her aunt Virginia and uncle Audley Gailbraith. Nancy describes longing for her mother during those years: "My favorite times were when Mother had a job in New York, and Aunt Virgie would take me by train to stay with her."
In 1929, her mother married Loyal Davis (1896–1982), a prominent, politically conservative neurosurgeon who moved the family to
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Nancy and her stepfather got along very well; she would later write that he was "a man of great integrity who exemplified old-fashioned values". He formally adopted her in 1935, and she would always refer to him as her father. At the time of the adoption, her name was legally changed to Nancy Davis (since birth, she had commonly been called Nancy). She attended the
Girls' Latin School of ChicagoThe Latin School of Chicago is a private elementary, middle and high school in the Gold Coast neighborhood in Chicago. The school was founded in 1888 by Mabel Slade Vickery.- History :...
(describing herself as an average student), graduated in 1939, and later attended
Smith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
in
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where she majored in
EnglishEnglish studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and graduated in 1943.
Acting career
Following her graduation, Davis held jobs in Chicago as a sales clerk in
Marshall Field'sMarshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...
department store and as a nurse's aide. With the help of her mother's colleagues in theatre, including
Zasu PittsZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
,
Walter HustonWalter Thomas Huston was a Canadian-born American actor. He was the father of actor and director John Huston and the grandfather of actress Anjelica Huston and actor Danny Huston.-Life and career:...
, and
Spencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
, she pursued a career as a professional actress. She first gained a part in Pitts' 1945 road tour of Ramshackle Inn, moving to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She landed the role of Si-Tchun, a
lady-in-waitingA lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
, in the 1946
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical about the Orient,
Lute SongLute Song is a 1946 American musical with a book by Sidney Howard and Will Irwin, music by Raymond Scott, and lyrics by Bernard Hanighen. It is based on the 14th century Chinese play Pi-Pa-Ki by Kao-Tong-Kia and Mao-Tseo...
, starring
Mary MartinMary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
and a pre-stardom
Yul BrynnerYul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
. The show's producer told her, "You look like you could be Chinese."
After passing a
screen testA screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film and/or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a camera to see if they are suitable...
, she moved to California and signed a seven-year contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) in 1949; she later remarked, "Joining Metro was like walking into a dream world." Her combination of attractive appearance – centered around her large eyes – and somewhat distant and understated manner made her hard at first for MGM to cast and publicize. Davis appeared in 11 feature films, usually
typecastIn TV, film, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character; one or more particular roles; or, characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ethnic groups...
as a "loyal housewife", "responsible young mother", or "the steady woman".
Jane PowellJane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
,
Debbie ReynoldsDebbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
,
Leslie CaronLeslie Claire Margaret Caron is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for guest actress in a drama series...
, and
Janet LeighJanet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
were among those that she competed with for roles at MGM.
Davis' film career began with minor roles in 1949's The Doctor and the Girl with
Glenn FordGlenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
, and followed with East Side, West Side starring
Barbara StanwyckBarbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...
. She played a child psychiatrist in the
film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
Shadow on the Wall (1950) with
Ann SothernAnn Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
and
Zachary ScottZachary Scott was an American actor, most notable for his roles as villains and "mystery men".-Life and career:...
; her performance was called "beautiful and convincing" by
New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
critic A. H. Weiler. She co-starred in 1950's
The Next Voice You Hear...The Next Voice You Hear... is a drama film in which a voice claiming to be that of God preempts all radio programs for days all over the world. It stars James Whitmore and Nancy Davis as Joe and Mary Smith, a typical American couple. It was based on a short story of the same name by George Sumner...
, playing a pregnant housewife who hears the voice of God from her radio. Influential reviewer
Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
of The New York Times wrote that "Nancy Davis [is] delightful as [a] gentle, plain, and understanding wife." In 1951, Davis appeared in her favorite screen role, Night Into Morning, a study of bereavement starring
Ray MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
. Crowther said that Davis "does nicely as the fiancée who is widowed herself and knows the loneliness of grief," while another noted critic,
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
's
Richard L. CoeRichard Livingston Coe , born in New York City, was a theatre and cinema critic for The Washington Post for more than fifty years. Coe was renowned for the astute advice he gave to many pre-Broadway try-out companies...
, said Davis "is splendid as the understanding widow." MGM released Davis from her contract in 1952; she sought a broader range of parts, but also married Reagan, keeping her professional name as Davis, and had her first child that year. She soon starred in the 1953 science fiction film
Donovan's BrainDonovan's Brain is a 1953 film, starring Lew Ayres, Gene Evans, and Nancy Reagan , based on the 1942 horror novel Donovan's Brain by Curt Siodmak.-Plot:...
; Crowther said that Davis, playing the role of a possessed scientist's "sadly baffled wife", "walked through it all in stark confusion" in an "utterly silly" film. In her next-to-last movie,
Hellcats of the NavyHellcats of the Navy is a World War II submarine movie starring Ronald Reagan and his wife, billed as Nancy Davis, her then professional name...
(1957), she played nurse Lieutenant Helen Blair and shared the screen for the only time with her husband, playing what one critic called "a housewife who came along for the ride". Another reviewer, however, stated that Davis plays her part well, and "does well with what she has to work with".
Garry WillsGarry Wills is a Pulitzer Prize-winning and prolific author, journalist, and historian, specializing in American politics, American political history and ideology and the Roman Catholic Church. Classically trained at a Jesuit high school and two universities, he is proficient in Greek and Latin...
believes that Davis was underrated as an actress overall because her constrained part in Hellcats was her most widely seen performance. In addition, Davis downplayed her Hollywood goals: MGM promotional material in 1949 said that her "greatest ambition" was to have a "successful happy marriage"; decades later, in 1975, she would say, "I was never really a career woman but [became one] only because I hadn't found the man I wanted to marry. I couldn't sit around and do nothing, so I became an actress." Ronald Reagan biographer
Lou CannonLouis Cannon is an American journalist, non-fiction author, and biographer. He was state bureau chief for the San Jose Mercury News in the late 1960s, and later senior White House correspondent of the Washington Post during the Reagan administration...
nevertheless characterized her as a "reliable" and "solid" performer who held her own in performances with better-known actors. After her final film, Davis appeared for a brief time as a guest star in television dramas such as
Wagon TrainWagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
and
The Tall ManThe Tall Man is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1960 to 1962. The series was produced by Revue Productions.-Synopsis:...
until 1962, when she retired as an actress. During her career, Davis served on the board of directors of the
Screen Actors GuildThe Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
for nearly ten years. Decades later,
Albert BrooksAlbert Lawrence Brooks is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News...
attempted to coax her out of acting retirement by offering her the title role opposite himself in his 1996 film
MotherMother is a 1996 comedy-drama film directed by Albert Brooks, and was co-written by Brooks with Monica Johnson. The film stars Brooks and Debbie Reynolds.-Plot:...
. She declined in order to care for her husband, and Debbie Reynolds played the part.
Marriage and family
During her Hollywood career Davis dated many actors, including
Clark GableWilliam Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
,
Robert StackRobert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, and
Peter LawfordPeter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
; she later called Gable the nicest of the stars she had met. On November 15, 1949, she met Ronald Reagan, who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild. Nancy had noticed that her name had appeared on the
Hollywood blacklistThe Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
and sought Reagan's help to maintain her employment as a guild actress in Hollywood, and for assistance in having her name removed from the list. Reagan informed her that she had been confused with another actress of the same name. The two began dating and their relationship was the subject of many gossip columns; one Hollywood press account described their nightclub-free times together as "the romance of a couple who have no vices". Ronald Reagan was skeptical about marriage, however, following his painful 1948 divorce from
Jane WymanJane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
, and he still saw other women. After three years of dating, he eventually proposed to Davis in the couple's favorite booth at the
Beverly HillsBeverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
restaurant
Chasen'sChasen's was a restaurant in West Hollywood, California that was a hangout for entertainment luminaries. Located at 9039 Beverly Boulevard near Beverly Hills, it was the site of the Academy Awards party for many years and was also known for its chili. In 1962 Liz Taylor had several orders of...
. They married on March 4, 1952 in a simple ceremony designed to avoid the press at the Little Brown Church in the
San Fernando ValleyThe San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
of Los Angeles. The only people in attendance were actor
William HoldenWilliam Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
, the best man, and his wife, actress
Brenda MarshallBrenda Marshall was an American film actress.Born Ardis Ankerson in Negros, Philippines, Marshall made her first film appearance in the 1939 Espionage Agent. The following year, she played the leading lady to Errol Flynn in The Sea Hawk...
, the matron of honor. The couple's first child, Patricia Ann Reagan (better known by her professional name,
Patti DavisPatti Davis is an American actress and author. She is the daughter of former President of the United States Ronald Reagan and Reagan's second wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan...
), was born on October 21, 1952. Their son,
Ronald Prescott ReaganRonald Prescott "Ron" Reagan sometimes known as Ronald Reagan, Jr., is a former talk radio host and chief political analyst for KIRO radio in Seattle until his show was canceled on August 8, 2007...
, was born six years later on May 20, 1958. Nancy Reagan also became stepmother to
Maureen ReaganMaureen Elizabeth Reagan was the first child of former President Ronald Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman...
(1941–2001) and
Michael ReaganMichael Edward Reagan is a former American radio host and Republican strategist. His nationally syndicated radio show, The Michael Reagan Talk Show, aired on stations throughout the United States on the Premiere Radio Networks before being dropped, after which it moved to Radio America...
(born 1945), the children of her husband's first marriage to Jane Wyman.
Observers described Ronald and Nancy Reagan's relationship as intimate. As president and first lady, the Reagans were reported to display their affection frequently, with one press secretary noting, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting." Ronald often called Nancy "Mommy"; she called him "Ronnie". While the President was recuperating in the hospital after the 1981 assassination attempt, Nancy Reagan wrote in her diary, "Nothing can happen to my Ronnie. My life would be over." In a letter to Nancy, Ronald wrote, "whatever I treasure and enjoy ... all would be without meaning if I didn’t have you." In 1998, while her husband was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, Nancy told
Vanity FairVanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, "Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him." Nancy was known for the focused and attentive look, termed "the Gaze", that she fastened upon her husband during his speeches and appearances. President Reagan's death in June 2004 ended what
Charlton HestonCharlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
called "the greatest love affair in the history of the American Presidency."
Nancy's relationship with her children was not always as close as that with her husband. She frequently quarreled with her biological children and her stepchildren. Her relationship with Patti was the most contentious; Patti flouted
American conservatismConservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
and rebelled against her parents by joining the nuclear freeze movement and authoring many anti-Reagan books. The nearly 20 years of family feuding left her very much estranged from both her mother and father. Soon after her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Patti and her mother reconciled and began to speak on a daily basis. Nancy's disagreements with Michael were also public matters; in 1984, she was quoted as saying that the two were in an "estrangement right now". Michael responded that Nancy was trying to cover up for the fact she had not met his daughter, Ashley, who had been born nearly a year earlier. They too eventually made peace. Nancy was thought to be closest to her stepdaughter Maureen during the White House years, but each of the Reagan children experienced periods of estrangement from their parents.
First Lady of California, 1967–1975
Reagan was First Lady of California during her husband's two terms as governor. She disliked living in
SacramentoSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, which lacked the excitement, social life, and mild climate to which she was accustomed in Los Angeles. She first attracted controversy early in 1967, when, after four months' residence in the California Governor's Mansion in Sacramento, she moved her family into a wealthy suburb because fire officials had labeled the mansion as a "firetrap". Though the Reagans leased the new house at their expense, the move was viewed by many as snobbish. Nancy defended her actions as being for the good of her family, a judgment with which her husband readily agreed. Friends of the family later helped support the cost of the leased house, while Nancy Reagan supervised construction of a new
ranch-styleRanch-style houses is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular amongst the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s...
governor's residence in nearby
CarmichaelCarmichael is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 61,762 at the 2010 census, up from 49,742 at the 2000 census.-Geography and geology:Carmichael...
. The new residence was finished just as Ronald Reagan left office in 1975, but his successor,
Jerry BrownEdmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...
, refused to live there. It was sold in 1982, and California governors have been living in improvised arrangements ever since.
In 1967, Nancy Reagan was appointed by her husband to the California Arts Commission, and a year later was named
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
Woman of the Year; in its profile, the Times labeled her "A Model First Lady". Her glamour, style, and youthfulness made her a frequent subject for
press photographersPhotojournalism is a particular form of journalism that creates images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism...
. As first lady, Reagan visited veterans, the elderly, and the handicapped, and worked with a number of charities. She became quite involved with the Foster Grandparents Program, helping to popularize it in the United States, then in Australia. She later expanded her work with the organization after arriving in Washington, and wrote about her experiences in her 1982 book To Love a Child. The Reagans held dinners for former POWs and
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veterans while governor and first lady.
Role in 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns
Governor Reagan's term ended in 1975, and he did not run for a third; instead, he met with advisors to discuss a possible bid for the
presidencyThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in
1976The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic...
, challenging incumbent President
Gerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
. Reagan still needed to convince a reluctant Nancy before running, however. She feared for her husband's health and his career as a whole, though she felt that he was the right man for the job and eventually approved. Nancy took on a more traditional role in the campaign, holding coffees, luncheons, and talks with senior citizens. With that, she oversaw personnel, monitored her husband's schedule, and occasionally provided press conferences. The 1976 campaign included the so-called "battle of the queens", contrasting Nancy with First Lady
Betty FordElizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford , better known as Betty Ford, was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford...
. They both spoke out over the course of the campaign on similar issues, but with different approaches. Nancy was particularly upset by the warmonger image that the Ford campaign had drawn of her husband.
Though he lost the 1976 Republican nomination, Reagan ran again for the presidency in
1980The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
and succeeded in winning the nomination and election. During this second campaign, Nancy played a very prominent role and her management of staff became more apparent. She arranged a meeting among feuding campaign managers John Sears and
Michael DeaverMichael Keith Deaver was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 until May 1985.-Early life:...
and her husband, which resulted in Deaver leaving the campaign and Sears being given full control. After the Reagan camp lost the
Iowa caucusThe Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the U.S. state of Iowa meet in precinct caucuses in all of Iowa's 1784 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa and thus 99 conventions...
and fell behind in
New HampshireThe New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years , as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November.Although only a...
polls, Nancy organized a second meeting and decided it was time to fire Sears and his associates; she gave Sears a copy of the press release announcing his dismissal. Her influence on her husband became particularly notable; her presence at rallies, luncheons, and receptions increased his confidence.
First Lady of the United States, 1981–1989
Renovation
Nancy Reagan became the First Lady of the United States when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president in January 1981. Early in her husband's presidency, Reagan stated her desire to create a more suitable "first home" in the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, as the building had fallen into a state of disrepair following years of neglect. White House aide
Michael DeaverMichael Keith Deaver was a member of President Ronald Reagan's White House staff serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff under James Baker III and Donald Regan from January 1981 until May 1985.-Early life:...
described the second and third floor family residence as having "cracked plaster walls, chipped paint [and] beaten up floors;" rather than use government funds to renovate and redecorate, she sought private donations. Nancy directed a major renovation of several White House rooms, including all of the second and third floors and rooms adjacent to the Oval Office, including the press briefing room. The renovation included repainting walls, refinishing floors, repairing fireplaces, and replacing antique pipes, windows, and wires. The closet in the master bedroom was converted into a beauty parlor and dressing room, and the West bedroom was made into a small gymnasium.
The first lady secured the assistance of renowned interior designer Ted Graber, popular with affluent West Coast social figures, to redecorate the family living quarters. A Chinese-pattern, handpainted wallpaper was added to the master bedroom. Family furniture was placed in the president's private study. The first lady and her designer retrieved a number of White House antiques, which had been in storage, and placed them throughout the mansion.
The extensive redecoration was paid for by private donations. Many significant and long-lasting changes occurred as a result of the renovation and refurbishment, of which Nancy Reagan said, "This house belongs to all Americans, and I want it to be something of which they can be proud."
Fashion
Another of Nancy Reagan's trademarks was her interest in fashion. While her husband was still
president-electAn -elect is a political candidate who has been elected to an office but who has not yet been sworn in or officially taken office. These may include an incoming president, senator, representative, governor and mayor.Analogously, the term "designate" An -elect is a political candidate who has been...
, press reports speculated about Nancy's social life and interest in fashion. In many press accounts, Nancy's sense of style was favorably compared to that of previous First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Friends and those close to her remarked that, while fashionable like Kennedy, she would be different than other first ladies; close friend Harriet Deutsch was quoted as saying, "Nancy has her own imprint."
Nancy Reagan's wardrobe consisted of dresses, gowns, and suits made by luxury designers, including
James GalanosJames Galanos is an American fashion designer, widely considered to be one the world's foremost 20th century couturiers.-Early life:James Galanos was born September 20, 1924 in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the only son of Greek-born parents...
, Bill Blass,
AdolfoAdolfo is a Brazilian city located in the interior of the state of São Paulo in the region of São José do Rio Preto.*Founded: 1959*Elevation: 443 m*Population: 3,437 inhabitants*Area: 211.4 km²...
, and
Oscar de la RentaOscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
. Her white, hand-beaded, one shoulder Galanos 1981 inaugural gown was estimated to cost $10,000 while the overall price of her inaugural wardrobe was said to cost $25,000. She favored the color red, calling it "a picker-upper", and wore it accordingly. Her wardrobe included red so often that the fire-engine shade became known as "Reagan red". She employed two private
hairdresserHairdresser is a term referring to anyone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques...
s who would style her hair on a regular basis in the White House.
Fashion designers were pleased with the emphasis Nancy Reagan placed on clothing. Adolfo said the first lady embodied an "elegant, affluent, well-bred, chic American look," while Bill Blass commented, "I don't think there's been anyone in the White House since Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who has her flair." William Fine, president of cosmetic company Frances Denney, noted that she "stays in style, but she doesn't become trendy."
Though her elegant fashions and wardrobe were hailed as a "glamorous paragon of chic", they were also controversial subjects. In 1982, she revealed that she had accepted thousands of dollars in clothing, jewelry, and other gifts, but defended her actions by stating that she had borrowed the clothes and that they would either be returned or donated to museums, and that she was promoting the American fashion industry. Facing criticism, she soon said she would no longer accept such loans. While often buying her clothes, she continued to borrow and sometimes keep designer clothes throughout her time as first lady, which came to light in 1988. None of this had been included on financial disclosure forms; the non-reporting of loans under $10,000 in liability was in violation of a voluntary agreement the White House had made in 1982, while not reporting more valuable loans or clothes not returned was a possible violation of the
Ethics in Government ActThe Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is a United States federal law that was passed in the wake of the Nixon Watergate scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre. It created mandatory, public disclosure of financial and employment history of public officials and their immediate family...
. Nancy expressed through her press secretary "regrets that she failed to heed counsel's advice" on disclosing them.
Despite the controversy, many designers who allowed her to borrow clothing noted that the arrangement was good for their businesses as well as for the American fashion industry overall. In 1989, Nancy was honored at the annual gala awards dinner of the
Council of Fashion Designers of AmericaThe Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. is a not-for-profit trade association of over 350 of America’s foremost fashion and accessory designers. As of 2009, Diane von Fürstenberg is the group's President and Steven Kolb is the Executive Director...
, during which she received the council's lifetime achievement award.
Barbara WaltersBarbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
said of her, "She has served every day for eight long years the word 'style.'"
Elegance and formality
Approximately a year into her husband's first term, Nancy Reagan explored the idea of ordering new
state china serviceThe White House china is the various patterns of china used for serving and eating food in the White House, home of the President of the United States. Different china services have been ordered and used by different presidential administrations. The White House collection of china is housed in...
for the White House. A full china service had not been purchased since the Truman administration in the 1940s, as only a partial service was ordered in the
JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
administration. She was quoted as saying, "The White House really badly, badly needs china." Working with
LenoxLenox sells tabletop, giftware and collectible products sold under the Lenox, Dansk and Gorham brands. The company sells its products through wholesale customers who operate gift, specialty and department store locations throughout the United States, Canada and other countries, as well as through...
, the primary porcelain manufacturer in America, the first lady chose a design scheme of a red with etched gold band, bordering the scarlet and cream colored ivory plates with a raised presidential seal etched in gold in the center. The full service comprised 4,370 pieces, with 19 pieces per individual set. The service totaled $209,508. Although it was paid for by private donations, some from the private Knapp Foundation, the purchase generated quite a controversy, for it was ordered at a time when the nation was undergoing an
economic recessionThe early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...
.
The new china, White House renovations, expensive clothing, and her attendance at the wedding of
CharlesPrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and
DianaDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
, Prince and Princess of Wales, gave her an aura of being "out of touch" with the American people during an
economic recessionThe early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...
. This and her taste for splendor inspired the derogatory nickname "Queen Nancy". While Jacqueline Kennedy had also faced some press criticism for her spending habits, Reagan's treatment was much more consistent and negative. In an attempt to deflect the criticism, she self-deprecatingly donned a baglady costume at the
1982 Gridiron DinnerThe Gridiron Club and Foundation, founded in 1885, is the oldest and one of the most prestigious journalistic organizations in Washington, D.C. Its 65 active members represent major newspapers, news services, news magazines and broadcast networks. Membership is by invitation only and has...
and sang "Second-Hand Clothes", mimicking the song "Second-Hand Rose". The skit helped to restore her reputation.
Nancy Reagan reflected on the criticisms in her 1989 autobiography, My Turn. Reagan describes lunching with former
Democratic National CommitteeThe Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
chairman
Robert StraussRobert Schwarz Strauss is a figure in American politics and diplomacy. A Texas political figure, Strauss’s political service dates back to future president Lyndon Johnson’s first congressional campaign in 1937. By the 1950s, he was associated in Texas politics with the conservative faction of...
, wherein Strauss said to her, "When you first came to town, Nancy, I didn't like you at all. But after I got to know you, I changed my mind and said, 'She's some broad!'" Nancy responded, "Bob, based on the press reports I read then, I wouldn't have liked me either!"
After the presidencies of
Gerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
(who favored the
Michigan fight song"The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan . It was composed by UM student Louis Elbel in 1898 following the last-minute football victory over the University of Chicago that clinched a league championship...
over "
Hail to the Chief"Hail to the Chief" is a march primarily associated with the President of the United States. Its playing accompanies the appearance of the President at many public appearances. For major official occasions, the United States Marine Band and other military ensembles generally are the performers, so...
") and
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
(who dramatically reduced the formality of presidential functions), Nancy brought a
KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
-esque glamour back into the White House. She hosted 56
state dinnerA state dinner is a dinner or banquet paid by a government and hosted by a head of state in his or her official residence in order to renew and celebrate diplomatic ties between the host country and the country of a foreign head of state or head of government who was issued an invitation. In many...
s over eight years, compared to six by George and Laura Bush. She remarked that hosting the dinners is "the easiest thing in the world. You don't have to do anything. Just have a good time and do a little business. And that's the way Washington works." In 1987,
Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
became the first Soviet leader to visit
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
since
Nikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
in 1959, and Nancy Reagan was in charge of planning and hosting the important and highly anticipated state dinner. After the meal, Nancy recruited pianist
Van CliburnHarvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. is an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958 at age 23, when he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War....
to sing a rendition of "
Moscow Nights"Moscow Nights" or "Midnight in Moscow" is a Russian song, and one of those best known outside its homeland.The song was originally created as "Leningradskie Vechera" by composer Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi and poet Mikhail Matusovsky in 1955 , but at the request of the Soviet Ministry of Culture, the...
" for the Soviet delegation, to which Mikhail and Raisa broke out into song. Former Secretary of State George Shultz commented on the evening, saying "We felt the ice of the Cold War crumbling." Nancy concluded, "It was a perfect ending for one of the great evenings of my husband's presidency."
Just Say No
Nancy Reagan launched the "
Just Say No"Just Say No" was an advertising campaign, part of the U.S. "War on Drugs", prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s, to discourage children from engaging in recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying no. Eventually, this also expanded the realm of "Just Say No" to violence and...
" drug awareness campaign in 1982, which was her primary project and major initiative as first lady. Nancy first became aware of the need to educate young people about drugs during a 1980 campaign stop in Daytop Village, New York. She remarked in 1981 that "Understanding what drugs can do to your children, understanding peer pressure and understanding why they turn to drugs is... the first step in solving the problem." Her campaign focused on drug education and informing the youth of the danger of drug abuse.
In 1982, Nancy Reagan was asked by a schoolgirl what to do when offered
drugsRecreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
; Nancy responded "Just say no." The phrase proliferated in the popular culture of the 1980s and was eventually adopted as the name of club organizations and school anti-drug programs. Reagan became actively involved by traveling more than 250000 miles (402,335 km) throughout the United States and several nations, visiting drug abuse prevention programs and
drug rehabilitationDrug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
centers. She also appeared on television talk shows, recorded public service announcements, and wrote guest articles. She appeared in an episode of the hit television drama
DynastyDynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
to underscore support for the anti-drug campaign. As she continued to promote "Just Say No", she appeared in an episode of the popular 1980s sitcom
Diff'rent StrokesDiff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986...
and in a 1985 rock music video, "
Stop the Madness"Stop the Madness" is an anti-drug music video uniquely endorsed and supported by United States President Ronald Reagan and the Reagan administration in 1985...
". When asked about her campaign, the first lady remarked, "If you can save just one child, it's worth it."
In 1985, Nancy expanded the campaign to an international level by inviting the
First LadiesFirst Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
of various nations to the White House for a conference on drug abuse. On October 27, 1986, President Reagan signed a drug enforcement bill into law, which granted $1.7 billion in funding to fight the crisis and ensured a mandatory minimum penalty for
drug offensesIn the United States, Illegal drugs are related to crime in multiple ways. Most directly, it is a crime to use, possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse...
. Although the bill was criticized by some, Nancy Reagan considered it a personal victory. In 1988, she became the first First Lady invited to address the
United Nations General AssemblyFor two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
, where she spoke on international drug interdiction and trafficking laws.
Critics of Reagan's efforts questioned their purpose and argued that the program did not go far enough in addressing many social issues, including
unemploymentUnemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
,
povertyPoverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, and family dissolution; Nancy's approach to promoting drug awareness was labeled as simplistic by liberal critics. Nonetheless, a number of "Just Say No" clubs and organizations remain in operation around the country, and they aim to educate children and teenagers about the effects of drugs.
Her husband's protector
Nancy Reagan assumed the role of unofficial "protector" for her husband after the
attempted assassinationThe Reagan assassination attempt occurred on Monday, March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr...
on his life in 1981. On March 30 of that year, President Reagan and three others were shot as they left the
Washington Hilton HotelThe Hilton Washington is a hotel in Washington, D.C. It is located at 1919 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., roughly at the boundaries of the Kalorama, Dupont Circle, and Adams Morgan neighborhoods.Developed by Uris Brothers and built in 1965 in a double-arched design, the hotel long sported the largest...
. Nancy was alerted and arrived at
George Washington University HospitalThe George Washington University Hospital is a hospital in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It opened on On August 23, 2002, with 371 beds in a 400,000 sq. ft. building, housing than $45 million of medical equipment and cost more than $96 million to construct...
, where the President was hospitalized. She recalled having seen "emergency rooms before, but I had never seen one like this—with my husband in it." She was escorted into a waiting room, and when granted access to see her husband, he quipped to her, "Honey, I forgot to duck", borrowing the defeated boxer
Jack Dempsey'sWilliam Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
jest to his wife.
An early example of her protective nature occurred when Senator
Strom ThurmondJames Strom Thurmond was an American politician who served as a United States Senator. He also ran for the Presidency of the United States in 1948 as the segregationist States Rights Democratic Party candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes...
entered the President's hospital room that day in March, passing the
Secret ServiceThe United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
detail by claiming he was the President's "close friend", presumably to acquire media attention. Nancy was outraged and demanded he leave. While the president recuperated in the hospital, the first lady slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by the scent. When Reagan was released from the hospital on April 12, she escorted him back to the White House.
Press accounts
framedA frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation — that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, people build a series of mental filters through biological and cultural influences. They use these...
Nancy as her husband's "chief protector", an extension of their general initial framing of her as a helpmate and a
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
domestic ideal.
Influence in the White House
Nancy stated in her memoirs, "I felt panicky every time [Ronald] left the White House" following the assassination attempt, and made it her concern to know her husband's schedule: the events he would be attending, and with whom. Eventually, this protectiveness led to her consulting an
astrologerAn astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
,
Joan QuigleyJoan Quigley , of San Francisco, is an astrologer best known for her astrological advice to the Reagan White House in the 1980s...
, who offered insight on which days were "good", "neutral", or should be avoided, which influenced her husband's
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
schedule. Days were color-coded according to the astrologer's advice to discern precisely which days and times would be optimal for the president's safety and success.
The
White House Chief of StaffThe White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President.The current White House Chief of Staff is Bill Daley.-History:...
,
Donald ReganDonald Thomas Regan ,was the 66th United States Secretary of the Treasury, from 1981 to 1985, and Chief of Staff from 1985 to 1987 in the Ronald Reagan Administration, where he advocated "Reaganomics" and tax cuts to create jobs and stimulate production.-Early life:Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,...
, grew frustrated with this regimen, which created friction between him and the First Lady. This escalated with the revelation of the
Iran-Contra affairThe Iran–Contra affair , also referred to as Irangate, Contragate or Iran-Contra-Gate, was a political scandal in the United States that came to light in November 1986. During the Reagan administration, senior Reagan administration officials and President Reagan secretly facilitated the sale of...
, an administration scandal, in which the First Lady felt Regan was damaging the president. She thought he should resign, and expressed this to her husband although he did not share her view. Regan wanted President Reagan to address the Iran-Contra matter in early 1987 by means of a press conference, though Nancy refused to allow Reagan to overexert himself due to a recent prostate surgery and astrological warnings. Regan became so angry with Nancy that he hung up on her during a 1987 telephone conversation. According to former
ABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
correspondent
Sam DonaldsonSamuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
, when the President heard of this treatment, he demanded—and eventually received—Regan's resignation. In his 1988 memoirs, Regan wrote about Nancy's consultations with the astrologer, the first public mention of them, which resulted in embarrassment for the First Lady. Nancy later wrote, "Astrology was simply one of the ways I coped with the fear I felt after my husband almost died... Was astrology one of the reasons [further attempts did not occur]? I don't really believe it was, but I don't really believe it wasn't."
Nancy Reagan wielded a powerful influence over President Reagan. Again stemming from the assassination attempt, she strictly controlled access to the president and even occasionally attempted to influence her husband's decision making.
Beginning in 1985, Nancy strongly encouraged her husband to hold "summit" conferences with Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev, and suggested they form a personal relationship beforehand. Both Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev had developed a productive relationship through their summit negotiations. The relationship between Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev was anything but the friendly, diplomatic one between their husbands; Nancy found Raisa hard to converse with and their relationship was described as "frosty". The two women usually had tea, and discussed differences between the USSR and the United States. Visiting the U.S. for the first time in 1987, Raisa irked Reagan with lectures on subjects ranging from architecture to socialism, reportedly prompting the American President's wife to quip, "Who does that dame think she is?"
Press framing of Nancy changed from that of just helpmate and protector to someone with hidden power. As the image of her as a political interloper grew, she sought to explicitly deny that she was the
power behind the throneThe phrase power behind the throne refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of an office. In politics, it most commonly refers to a spouse, aide, or advisor of a political leader who serves as de facto leader, setting policy through influence or manipulation.The...
. At the end of her time as First Lady, however, she said that her husband had not been well-served by his staff. She acknowledged her role in reaction in influencing him on personnel decisions, saying "In no way do I apologize for it." She wrote in her memoirs, "I don't think I was as bad, or as extreme in my power or my weakness, as I was depicted," but went on, "[H]owever the first lady fits in, she has a unique and important role to play in looking after her husband. And it's only natural that she'll let him know what she thinks. I always did that for Ronnie, and I always will."
Breast cancer
In October 1987, a mammogram detected a lesion in Nancy Reagan's left breast and she was subsequently diagnosed with
breast cancerBreast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. She chose to undergo a
mastectomyMastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
rather than a
lumpectomyLumpectomy is a common surgical procedure designed to remove a discrete lump, usually a benign tumor or breast cancer, from an affected man or woman's breast...
and the breast was removed on October 17, 1987. Ten days after the operation, her mother,
Edith Luckett DavisEdith Luckett Davis was a film and Broadway stage actress in the 1910s and 1920s, and was the mother of Nancy Reagan, wife of U.S...
, died in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, leading Nancy to dub the period "a terrible month".
After the surgery, more women across the country had mammograms, an example of the influence the First Lady possesses.
Later life
Though Nancy was a controversial First Lady, 56 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of her when her husband left office on January 20, 1989, with 18 percent having an unfavorable opinion and the balance not giving an opinion. Compared to fellow First Ladies when their husbands left office, Reagan's approval was higher than those of
Rosalynn CarterEleanor Rosalynn Carter is the wife of the former President of the United States Jimmy Carter and in that capacity served as the First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981. As First Lady and after, she has been a leading advocate for numerous causes, perhaps most prominently for mental...
and
Hillary Rodham ClintonHillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, however she was less popular than
Barbara BushBarbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
and her disapproval rating was double that of Carter's.
Upon leaving the White House, the couple returned to California, where they purchased a home in the wealthy
East Gate Old Bel AirEast Gate Bel Air is a very small and very wealthy area within the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, California...
neighborhood of Bel Air, Los Angeles, dividing their time between Bel Air and the
Reagan RanchRancho del Cielo, or "Sky's or Heaven's Ranch," is a ranch located on the top of the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California...
in
Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, California; Ronald and Nancy regularly attended
Bel Air Presbyterian ChurchBel Air Presbyterian Church is a Christian megachurch located in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The church is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church currently averages more than 3,000 in attendance each weekend.-History:...
as well. After leaving Washington, Nancy made numerous public appearances, many on behalf of her husband. She continues to reside at the Bel Air home, where she lived with her husband until his death on June 5, 2004.
Early post-White House activities
In late 1989, the former First Lady established the Nancy Reagan Foundation, which aimed to continue to educate people about the dangers of substance abuse. The Foundation teamed with the BEST Foundation For A Drug-Free Tomorrow in 1994, and developed the Nancy Reagan Afterschool Program. She continued to travel around the nation, speaking out against drug and alcohol abuse. After President Reagan revealed that he had been diagnosed with
Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
in 1994, she made herself his primary caregiver and became actively involved with the National Alzheimer's Association and its affiliate, the
Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research InstituteThe Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute, an affiliate of the National Alzheimer's Association in Chicago, Illinois, is an initiative founded by former United States President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan to accelerate the progress of Alzheimer's disease research...
in Chicago,
IllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Also in 1989 she published
My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy ReaganMy Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan is an autobiography authored by former First Lady of the United States Nancy Reagan. It was published by Random House in 1989.-Content:...
, which gives an account of her life in the White House, speaking openly about her influence within the Reagan administration and discussing the myths and controversies that surrounded the couple. In 1991, the controversial author
Kitty KelleyKitty Kelley is an American journalist and author of several best-selling unauthorized biographies of celebrities and politicians. Her subjects have included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Reagan, the British Royal Family, the Bush family, and Oprah Winfrey...
wrote an unauthorized and largely uncited biography about Nancy Reagan, repeating accounts of a poor relationship with her children and introducing rumors of alleged sexual relations with singer
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. A wide range of sources commented that Kelley's largely unsupported claims are most likely false.
In 1989 the
Internal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
began investigating the Reagans for whether they owed additional tax on the gifts and loans of high-fashion clothes and jewelry to Nancy during their time in the White House (recipients benefiting from the display of such items recognize taxable income even if they are returned). In 1992 the IRS determined the Reagans had failed to include some $3 million worth of fashion items between 1983 and 1988 on their tax returns; they were billed for a large amount of back taxes and interest, which was subsequently paid.
Nancy Reagan was awarded the
Presidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on July 9, 2002. President Reagan received his own Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 1993. Nancy and her husband were jointly awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on May 16, 2002 at the Capitol, and were only the third President and First Lady to receive it; she accepted the medal on behalf of both of them.
Ronald Reagan's funeral
Ronald Reagan died in their Bel Air home on June 5, 2004. During the seven-day
state funeralOn June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed, spanning June 5–11...
, Nancy, accompanied by her children and military escort, led the nation in mourning by keeping a strong composure, traveling from her home to the
Reagan LibraryThe Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...
for a memorial service, then to
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where her husband's body lay in state for 34 hours prior to a national funeral service in the
Washington National CathedralThe Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
. She returned to the library in California for a sunset memorial service and interment, where, overcome with emotion, she lost her composure, crying in public for the first time during the week. After accepting the folded flag, she kissed the casket and mouthed "I love you" before leaving. Journalist
Wolf BlitzerWolf Isaac Blitzer is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009...
said of Reagan during the week, "She's a very, very strong woman, even though she looks frail."
She had directed the detailed planning of the funeral, including ordering all the major events and asking former President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
as well as former British Prime Minister
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
and former Canadian Prime Minister
Brian MulroneyMartin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
to speak during the National Cathedral Service. She paid very close attention to the details, something she had always done in her husband's life.
Betsy Bloomingdale, one of Reagan's closest friends, stated, "She looks a little frail. But she is very strong inside. She is. She has the strength. She is doing her last thing for Ronnie. And she is going to get it right." The funeral marked Reagan's first major public appearance since delivering a speech to the
1996 Republican National ConventionThe 1996 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States convened at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, from August 12 to August 15, 1996...
on her husband's behalf.
The funeral had a great impact on Reagan's public image. Following substantial criticism during her tenure as first lady, she was seen somewhat as a national heroine, praised by many for supporting and caring for her husband while he suffered from Alzheimer's disease.
U.S. News & World ReportU.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
opined, "after a decade in the shadows, a different, softer Nancy Reagan emerged."
Life after Ronald
Reagan has remained active in politics, particularly relating to stem cell research. Beginning in 2004, she favored what many consider to be the
Democratic Party'sThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
position, and urged President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to support federally funded embryonic stem cell research in the hope that this science could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Although she failed to change the president's position, she did support his campaign for a second term.
In 2005, Reagan was honored at a gala dinner at the
Ronald Reagan BuildingThe Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, named after former United States President Ronald Reagan, is the first federal building in Washington, D.C. designed for both governmental and private sector purposes....
in Washington, D.C. where guests included
Dick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
,
Harry ReidHarry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
and
Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
. It was her first major public appearance since the funeral. Asked what her future plans were, Reagan shook her head and responded, "I don't know. I'll know when I'll know. But the [Reagan] library is Ronnie, so that's where I spend my time."
In 2007, she attended the
national funeral service for Gerald FordOn December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, at 6:45 p.m. local time . At 8:49 p.m...
in the
Washington National CathedralThe Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
. Nancy Reagan hosted
two 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates DebatesThe 2008 Republican Presidential Debates were political debates before the 2008 Republican Primaries. The first was May 3, 2007, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. Other debates have taken place in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida...
at the Reagan Presidential Library, the first in May 2007 and the second in January 2008. While she did not participate in the discussions, she sat in the front row and listened as the men vying to become the nation's 44th president claimed to be a rightful successor to her husband. Though some speculation arose as to whether Reagan might support New York City Mayor
Michael BloombergMichael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
in a presidential bid, nothing came of it. She formally endorsed Senator
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, then the presumptive Republican party nominee, for president on March 25.
She attended the funeral of
Lady Bird JohnsonClaudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that...
in
AustinAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
,
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
on July 14, 2007 and three days later accepted the highest Polish distinction, the Order of the White Eagle, on behalf of Ronald Reagan at the Reagan Library. The Reagan Library opened the temporary exhibit "Nancy Reagan: A First Lady's Style", which displayed over eighty designer dresses belonging to the first lady.
Nancy Reagan's health and well being became a prominent concern in 2008. In February she suffered a fall at her Bel Air home and was taken to St. John's Health Center in
Santa Monica, CaliforniaSanta Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
. Doctors reported that she did not break a hip as feared and she was released from the hospital two days later. News commentators noted that Reagan's step had slowed significantly, as the following month she walked in very slow strides with John McCain. NBC's
Brian WilliamsBrian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
, who attended a dinner with Reagan in mid-2008, recalled, "Mrs. Reagan's vision isn't what it always was so she was taking very halting steps as a lot of folks her age do... [I]t is so important for folks in her age bracket and in her bracket of life to remain upright and captain of their own ship. She very much is captain of her own ship." As for her mental ability, Williams remarked, "She's as sharp as ever and enjoys a robust life with her friends in California, but [falling] is always a danger of course. She's a very stoic, hardy person full of joy and excitement for life... She is not without opinions on politics and political types these days... She is, as most of her friends described her, a pistol."
In October 2008, Reagan was admitted to
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical CenterThe Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California....
after falling at home. Doctors determined that the 87-year-old had fractured her pelvis and
sacrumIn vertebrate anatomy the sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones. Its upper part connects with the last lumbar vertebra, and bottom part with the coccyx...
and could recuperate at home with a regimen of
physical therapyPhysical therapy , often abbreviated PT, is a health care profession. Physical therapy is concerned with identifying and maximizing quality of life and movement potential within the spheres of promotion, prevention, diagnosis, treatment/intervention,and rehabilitation...
. As a result of her mishap, medical articles were published containing information on how to prevent falls. In January 2009, Reagan was said to be "improving every day and starting to get out more and more."
In March 2009 she praised President
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
for reversing the ban on federally funded embryonic stem cell research. She traveled to Washington, D.C. in June 2009 to unveil a statue of her late husband in the Capitol Rotunda. She was also on hand as President Obama signed the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission Act and lunched privately with
Michelle ObamaMichelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
. Nancy revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair that Michelle Obama had telephoned her for advice on living and entertaining in the White House. Following the August 2009 death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, she said she was "terribly saddened ... Given our political differences, people are sometimes surprised how close Ronnie and I have been to the Kennedy family. ... I will miss him."
Filmography
- The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
- East Side, West Side
East Side, West Side is a melodramatic crime film, starring Barbara Stanwyck as a wronged wife and Ava Gardner in one of her earliest roles.-Plot:Wealthy socialite Brandon Bourne can't resist cheating on his faithful wife, Jessie...
(1949)
- Shadow on the Wall
Shadow on the Wall is a 1950 psychological thriller film starring Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Gigi Perreau and Nancy Davis. It is based on the novel Death in the Doll's House by Lawrence P. Bachmann and Hannah Lees.-Plot:...
(1950)
- The Next Voice You Hear...
The Next Voice You Hear... is a drama film in which a voice claiming to be that of God preempts all radio programs for days all over the world. It stars James Whitmore and Nancy Davis as Joe and Mary Smith, a typical American couple. It was based on a short story of the same name by George Sumner...
(1950)
- Night Into Morning (1951)
- It's a Big Country (1951)
- Talk About a Stranger (1952)
- Shadow in the Sky (1952)
- Donovan's Brain
Donovan's Brain is a 1953 film, starring Lew Ayres, Gene Evans, and Nancy Reagan , based on the 1942 horror novel Donovan's Brain by Curt Siodmak.-Plot:...
(1953)
- The Dark Wave
The Dark Wave is a 1956 short documentary film directed by Jean Negulesco. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Documentary Short and the other for Best Two-Reel Short....
(1956)
- Hellcats of the Navy
Hellcats of the Navy is a World War II submarine movie starring Ronald Reagan and his wife, billed as Nancy Davis, her then professional name...
(1957)
- Crash Landing (originally announced as Rescue at Sea) (1958)
She also made a number of television appearances from 1953 through 1962, as a guest star in dramatic shows or installments of anthology series. Her first appearance with Ronald Reagan came in one of the latter,
Ford TheatreFord Theatre was a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts...
, during a 1953 episode titled "First Born".
External links
- First Lady profile at WhiteHouse.gov
Whitehouse.gov is the official website of the White House and is owned by the United States government. Launched in October 1994, it contains general American history information, as well as current news pertaining to the President, press briefings, proclamations, executive orders, and any speeches...
- Profile at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about northwest of...