Nancy Davis Reagan, the first lady to the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, is remembered for her tremendous courage and drive, and her fierce loyalty and protection of her husband and his legacy. I was privileged to know and work for her for the last 30 years of her life and have come to understand that her influence, especially as first lady, made the lives of all Americans safer and better. At what would have been her hundredth birthday, it is worth remembering her notable contributions and accomplishments today.
Nancy Reagan, born Anne Frances Robbins, was born on July 6, 1921, in New York City. Following in the footsteps of her Broadway star mother, Nancy successfully pursued an acting career which took her to Hollywood. There, as Nancy Davis, she starred in over a dozen films during the 1940s and ‘50s before marrying Ronald Reagan in 1952, who was then President of the Screen Actors Guild.
By this time, Ronald Reagan, already a fervent anti-communist, knew he could accomplish greater things, and he used his effective communication style, affability, charm, and a rejuvenated articulation of conservatism to lead the state of California as Governor for two terms with Nancy ably serving as first lady.
Nancy Reagan would take up that role again in 1981 on the biggest stage of her life in Washington, D.C., accompanying her husband, now president of the United States. Her major initiative as first lady, perhaps her most famous, was the “Just Say No” campaign, a public service effort aimed at limiting illegal drug use by minors. She helped establish thousands of “Just Say No” clubs across the country, going on speaking tours around the globe to teach youth the means to resist illicit drug solicitations.
Meanwhile, her husband was embroiled in the fight that would define his legacy. After more than 30 years, Ronald Reagan was finally in a position to do something conclusive about the USSR and its infamously terrible record as a hostile, nuclear-armed state. Nancy Reagan recognized that ending the Cold War would be a monumental accomplishment and would cement Ronald Reagan’s legacy as a peacemaker. As his closest confidant, she encouraged him to negotiate and lower the overheated rhetoric that had previously characterized the relationship.
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“Although I don’t get involved in policy,” Nancy Reagan said, “it’s silly to suggest my opinion should not carry some weight with a man I’ve been married to for 35 years.”
While the policies comprising the Reagan Doctrine took effect, President Reagan, buoyed by his wife’s counsel and support, began talks with the Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 in Geneva, Switzerland. This was the first such meeting between the U.S and Soviet heads of state since 1979. It took until 1991 before the Soviet Union formally dissolved, but Ronald Reagan deserves the lion’s share of credit for creating the conditions that brought it about.
During this critical time, Nancy Reagan faced a far more personal threat. In 1987, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and elected to undergo a modified radical mastectomy, a procedure where her entire breast, as well as most of the lymph nodes under her arm, were removed. A second, less radical, option would have required a lengthy recovery period forcing her to suspend her duties as first lady, an outcome she refused to entertain. In the months and years that followed she maintained her position that each woman knows her own body and situation and she alone must make her own decision on what is right. Her dedication to her role and the success of her husband’s administration was too important to allow herself to be sidelined.
After Ronald Reagan's term as president ended, the couple returned to California and made their home in Los Angeles. After writing a letter to the American people announcing a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, President Reagan was cared for by a devoted Nancy until his death at the age of 93 on June 5, 2004.
Watching her for 10 years care for her husband and protecting him with valor, fidelity, and every ounce of strength she had was so inspiring. Somehow, she managed to get through an entire week of his funeral services, with the eyes of the public watching her every move. At the very end, when she had nothing left, emotionally or physically, she collapsed on his casket, heavy in the knowledge that he would not be at home when she returned.
Nancy Reagan remained active in promoting her husband’s legacy of leadership and continued her life of advocacy until congestive heart failure took her life at age 94 on March 6, 2016. Nancy Reagan’s life was so intertwined with her husband’s that it is impossible to separate her influence from the man. Indeed, her career was typified by service, advocacy, and dedication, and she served her family and country with unparalleled grace and warmth.
Joanne Drake is the Chief Administrative Officer of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. Joanne served as the final Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for both President and Mrs. Reagan.
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