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Nancy Davis Reagan
First Lady of the United States
In office January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
Preceded by	Rosalynn Carter
Succeeded by	Barbara Bush
Personal details
Born	(1921-07-06) July 6, 1921 (age 103) Flushing, New York, U.S.
Spouse	Ronald Reagan
Relations	Kenneth Seymour Robbins and Edith Luckett
Children	Patti, Ron
Occupation	First Lady of the United States
Signature

Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins on July 6, 1921) is the widow of the former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Born in New York, her parents divorced soon after her birth; 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 the 1940s and 1950s, starring in films such as Donovan's Brain, Night into Morning, and Hellcats of the Navy. She married then-president of the Screen Actor's Guild Ronald Reagan in 1952; they have two children. Nancy became the First Lady of California when Ronald Reagan was Governor of California from 1967 to 1975.

She became the First Lady of the United States in January 1981 with Ronald Reagan's presidential victory, experiencing a great deal of criticism early in her husband's first term, due largely to her decision to replenish the White House china. She championed recreational drug prevention causes by founding the "Just Say No" Drug Awareness Campaign, which was considered her major initiative as First Lady. More controversy was generated when it was revealed in 1988 that she had consulted an astrologer to assist in planning the president's schedule after the 1981 assassination attempt.

The Reagans retired to their Bel Air, Los Angeles, California home in 1989. Nancy devoted most of her time to caring for her ailing husband, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, until his death ten years later on June 5. As of 2007, Nancy Reagan has continued to stay active in politics particularly relating to stem-cell research.

Early life

Born Anne Frances Robbins on July 6, 1921 in New York's Sloane Hospital for Women, she was the only child of car salesman Kenneth Seymour Robbins (1894–1972) and his actress wife, Edith Luckett (1888–1987). While her parents divorced soon after her birth, they were separated for some time before then. Nancy was raised in Bethesda, Maryland by her aunt Virginia and uncle Audley Gailbraith for six years during her childhood, as her mother traveled the country to pursue acting jobs. Nancy describes longing for her mother during those years, saying, "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 Chicago. 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." In 1935 he formally adopted her, and she would always refer to him as her father. After the adoption, her name was legally changed to Nancy Davis (she had commonly been known as Nancy since her birth). She received her formal education at the Girls' Latin School of Chicago (describing herself as an average student), graduating in 1939, and later at Smith College in Massachusetts, where she majored in English and drama and graduated in 1943.

Acting career

Following her graduation, Davis held jobs in Chicago as a sales clerk in Marshall Field's department store and as a nurse's aide. With the help of her mother's colleagues in the theatre world, including Zasu Pitts, Walter Huston, and Spencer Tracy, she pursued a career as a professional actress. She first gained a part in Pitts' 1945 road tour of Ramshackle Inn, then settled in New York. She landed the role of Si-Tchun, a lady-in-waiting, in the 1946 Broadway musical about the Orient, Lute Song, starring Mary Martin and Yul Brynner, after the show's producer told her, "You look like you could be Chinese."

After passing a screen test, she signed a seven-year contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) in 1949, saying "Joining Metro was like walking into a dream world." Davis appeared in 11 feature films, usually typecast as a "loyal housewife," "responsible young mother", or "the steady woman"; she kept her professional name as Nancy Davis even after marrying. Her film career began with minor roles in 1949's The Doctor and the Girl with Glenn Ford, and followed with East Side, West Side starring Barbara Stanwyck. She played a child psychiatrist in the film noir Shadow on the Wall (1950) with Ann Sothern and Zachary Scott; The New York Times' critic A. H. Weiler called her "beautiful and convincing" in the role. She co-starred in 1950's The Next Voice You Hear ..., playing a pregnant housewife who hears the voice of God from her radio. Influential reviewer Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that "Nancy Davis delightful as gentle, plain, and understanding wife". A later critic admired the fact that an attempt was made to make Davis actually look pregnant, as many other films from the time neglected to do. In 1951 Davis appeared in Night Into Morning, a study of bereavement starring Ray Milland. The Times' Crowther said Davis "does nicely as the fiancée who is widowed herself and knows the loneliness of grief;" this was Nancy's favorite screen role. Davis left MGM in 1952, looking for a broader range of parts. She soon starred in the 1953 science fiction film Donovan's Brain; Crowther said 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 last movie, Hellcats of the Navy (1957), she played nurse Lieutenant Helen Blair, and shared the screen for the only time with her husband, playing what one critic noted as "a housewife who came along for the ride." Another reviewer, however, stated that she does "a good job" of playing her part, and "does well with what she has to work with."

Noted author Garry Wills believes that Davis was underrated as an actress overall, because her constrained part in Hellcats became her most widely-seen role. Davis herself seemed to downplay her Hollywood goals: 1949 MGM promotional material said her "greatest ambition" was to have a "successful happy marriage," while decades later, in 1975, she would say, "I was never really a career woman but 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 Cannon believes this was overly dismissive, and characterized her as a "reliable" and "solid" performer, holding her own in working across better-known actors. After her final film, she appeared in television dramas such as Wagon Train and The Tall Man until 1962, when she retired as an actress. During her career, she served on the Screen Actors Guild board of directors for nearly 10 years.

Marriage and family

Nancy Davis dated actors in Hollywood, including Clark Gable briefly, whom she later called the nicest of the big-name stars she had met. She met Ronald Reagan on November 15, 1949, while he was president of the Screen Actor's Guild. Concerned that she would be confused with another actress by the same name who appeared on the Hollywood blacklist, she contacted him to help maintain her employment as a guild actress in Hollywood, and for help in removing her name from the list. The two began dating and became publicly visible; 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 divorce from Jane Wyman in 1948, and still occasionally saw other women. He eventually proposed to her at their favorite booth in the Beverly Hills restaurant Chasen's. They were married on March 4, 1952 — in a simple ceremony designed to avoid the press — in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles at the Little Brown Church. William Holden and his wife, the best man and maid of honor, were the only people in attendance.

Their first child, Patricia Ann Reagan (better known under her professional name Patti Davis), was born on October 21, 1952. Their son, Ronald Prescott Reagan, was born six years later, on May 20. Nancy Reagan is also stepmother to Michael Reagan and the late Maureen Reagan, the children of her husband's first marriage to actress Jane Wyman.

Observers described Ronald and Nancy Reagan's relationship as close, real, and intimate. While President and First Lady, the Reagans were reported to display their affection for each other frequently, with one press secretary noting, "They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting." He often called her "Mommy"; she called him "Ronnie". While the President was recuperating in the hospital after the assassination attempt in 1981, Nancy Reagan wrote in her diary, "Nothing can happen to my Ronnie. My life would be over."; in a letter to Nancy, President Reagan wrote, "whatever I treasure and enjoy all would be without meaning if I didn’t have you." In 1994, President Reagan wrote "I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience," and in 1998, while her husband was severely affected by the disease, Nancy told Vanity Fair, "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 Reagan was known for the focused and attentive look she fastened upon her husband during his speeches and appearances, nicknamed "the Gaze." President Reagan's death in June 2004 ended what Charlton Heston called "the greatest love affair in the history of the American Presidency."

Nancy's relationship with her children wasn't always as close as that with her husband; she frequently quarreled with both her biological children and stepchildren. Her relationship with Patti was the most contentious; Patti flouted American conservatism and rebelled against her parents by joining the nuclear freeze movement and authoring many anti-Reagan books. Nancy's disagreements with Michael were also shown publicly. At one point in 1984, she was quoted on television saying the two were in an "estrangement right now"; that sparked a response from Michael saying Nancy was trying to cover up for the fact she had not met his daughter, Ashley, who had been born nearly a year before. They eventually made peace, however. Nancy was thought to be closest to Maureen, her stepdaughter, during the White House years, but each of the Reagan children experienced periods of estrangement with their parents.

First Lady of California, 1967–1975

Reagan was First Lady of California during her husband's two terms as governor. She did not like living in Sacramento, which lacked the excitement, mild climate, and social life she was used to in Los Angeles. She first attracted controversy early in 1967, when after four months she moved her family out of the California Governor's Mansion in Sacramento and into a wealthy suburb, after fire officials had described the house as a "firetrap." The Reagans leased the new house at their own expense, but nonetheless the move was viewed by many as snobbery; Nancy defended her actions as being for the good of her family, a judgement to which her husband readily agreed. Later Reagan friends helped support the cost of the leased house, as Nancy Reagan supervised construction of a new ranch-style governor's residence in nearby Carmichael. This was finished just as the Reagans left office in 1975, but successor Jerry Brown refused to live there; it was eventually 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 a Los Angeles Times' Woman of the Year; in its profile, the Times labeled her as "A Model First Lady". She was a frequent subject of press photographers for her glamor, style, and youthfulness. In her role, Reagan visited veterans, the elderly, and the handicapped, and worked with a number of charitable groups. She began her involvement with the Foster Grandparent Program, helping to popularize it in the United States and later in Australia; she would continue and expand her work with it after arriving in Washington, and her 1982 book To Love a Child would be focused on the organization. The Reagans also held dinners for former POWs and Vietnam War veterans while Governor and First Lady.

On the campaign trail

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 presidency in 1976, something they approved of. Reagan had to convince a reluctant Nancy before doing anything, however. She eventually approved and did her part in the campaign: oversaw personnel, monitored her husband's schedule, and gave occasional press conferences. He lost the 1976 Republican nomination to the incumbent President Gerald Ford, but ran again for the presidency in 1980 and succeeded in winning the nomination and election. During this campaign, her managing of staff became more apparent. She arranged a meeting between feuding campaign staffers John Sears and Michael Deaver with her husband, which resulted in Deaver's leaving the campaign and placing Sears in charge. After the Reagan camp lost the Iowa caucus and fell behind in New Hampshire polls, Nancy organized a second meeting and decided it was time to fire Sears and his associates; she gave him a copy of the press release announcing his dismissal.

First Lady of the United States, 1981–1989

Nancy Reagan became the First Lady of the United States when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president in 1981. Though a controversial First Lady, more than half of Americans had a favorable opinion of her when her husband left office in 1989.

White House china and glamor

Early in her tenure as First Lady, Nancy Reagan stated that it was one of her objectives to create a home in the White House. Rather than use government funds to renovate and redecorate the floors, she sought private funds to complete the work. Nancy drew controversy early on by announcing the purchase of 4,370 pieces of scarlet, cream and gold state china service for the White House costing $210,399. Although the china was paid for by private donations, as well as the private Knapp Foundation, the purchase raised eyebrows, for it was ordered at a time when the nation was undergoing an economic recession.

Another of Nancy Reagan's trademarks was glamor. After the years of Gerald Ford (who favored the "Michigan Fight Song" over "Hail to the Chief") and Jimmy Carter (who dramatically toned down the formality of presidential functions), Nancy brought Kennedy-esque glamor back into the White House. Her elegant fashions and wardrobe were also controversial subjects. Nancy favored the color red, saying "I always liked red. It's a picker-upper," and wore it accordingly. She chose dresses and gowns made by luxury designers, including James Galanos and Oscar de la Renta; her 1981 Galanos inaugural gown was estimated to cost $10,000.

In 1982, she revealed that she had accepted thousands of dollars in clothing, jewelry and gifts, but defended her actions by stating that she had borrowed the clothes and that they would either be returned or donated to museums. The new china, a White House renovation, expensive clothing, and her attendance at the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, gave her an aura of being "out of touch" with the American people. This and her taste for splendor inspired the derogatory nickname "Queen Nancy." In an attempt to deflect this criticism, at the 1982 Gridiron Dinner she self-deprecatingly donned a baglady costume and sang "Second-Hand Clothes," a mimicking version of "Second-Hand Rose."

President Reagan's assassination attempt

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan and three others were shot when leaving the Washington Hilton Hotel. Nancy was alerted of a shooting and arrived at George Washington University Hospital not long after the event took place. She recalls 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 the president he said to her, "Honey, I forgot to duck" (borrowing defeated boxer Jack Dempsey's line to his wife). While President Reagan was in the hospital recuperating, Nancy slept with one of his shirts to be comforted by the scent. Upon his release from the hospital on April 12, she personally escorted President Reagan back to the White House.

"Just Say No"

Nancy Reagan launched the "Just Say No" Drug Awareness Campaign in 1982, her primary project and major initiative as First Lady. While visiting a school in Oakland, California, she was asked by a schoolgirl what to do if she was offered drugs; Nancy responded by saying, "Just say no." The phrase soon proliferated through the popular culture of the 1980s and was eventually adopted as the name of club organizations, as well as anti-drug programs in schools. Reagan traveled over 250,000 miles throughout the United States and several nations, visiting drug prevention programs and rehabilitation centers. She also appeared on television talk shows, taped public service announcements, and wrote guest articles.

In 1985, Nancy expanded the campaign to an international level by inviting the First Ladies of different 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 dollars to fight the crisis, and ensured a mandatory minimum penalty for drug offenses. Although the bill was criticized by some, Nancy Reagan said that she considered it a personal victory. In 1988, she became the first First Lady invited to address the United Nations General Assembly, speaking on international drug interdiction and trafficking laws.

Critics of "Just Say No" and the American war on drugs argued that the program itself was too costly. Its purpose was questioned as well. Author Jeff Elliot states that the Reagan administration's usage of the words " drug use" and "drug abuse" were synonymous, referencing Dr. Michael Newcomb's claim that there is "no evidence that most people who experiment with drugs get hooked."

Nonetheless, there are a number of "Just Say No" clubs and organizations still in operation around the country, aimed at educating children and teens about the effects of drugs. In 1983, Reagan appeared as herself in an episode of the hit television series Dynasty to underscore support for the anti-drug campaign. In addition, she appeared in an episode of a popular 1980s sitcom, Diff'rent Strokes, as well as in a 1985 rock music video, Stop the Madness, also to promote "Just Say No."

Her husband's protector

Reagan took on a role as being her husband's unofficial "protector" after the attempted assassination in 1981. One of the first instances of this took place when Senator Strom Thurmond entered the president's hospital room that day in March, passing the Secret Service detail claiming he was the President's "close friend" presumably to acquire media attention. Amidst all the events of the day, Nancy was outraged and demanded he be thrown out of the room.

Nancy stated in her memoirs, "I felt panicky every time he left the White House," and made it her concern to know her husband's schedule: what events he would be attending, when, where, and with whom. Eventually, this "protection" led to the consultation of an astrologer, Joan Quigley, who gave insight on which days were "good," "neutral," or "days that should be avoided," which influenced the White House time schedule of her husband. Days were color-coded according to the astrologer's advice to discern precisely what days and at what times would be optimal for safety and success. The White House Chief of Staff, Donald Regan, grew frustrated with this regimen, which created friction between him and the First Lady. While the two were talking on the telephone in 1987, Regan became so angry that he hung up on her. According to former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson, when the President heard of this treatment, he demanded—and eventually received—Regan's 1987 resignation. In his 1988 memoirs, Regan publicly released the fact that she consulted an astrologer, resulting in embarrassment for her.

Cold War

In 1985, 1987, and 1988, while Cold War discussions regarding nuclear affairs between Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan took place, Nancy met with Gorbachev's wife, Raisa. The two women usually had tea, and discussed differences between the USSR and the United States. Their relationship was anything but the friendly, diplomatic one between their husbands, however; Nancy found Raisa too hard to converse with and somewhat shrewd. Visiting the United States 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?" Previously, Nancy had suggested that Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev and her husband form a personal relationship with each other before engaging in "summit" conferences.

Later life

Upon leaving the White House on January 20, 1989, the Reagans returned to California, where they purchased a second home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, dividing their time between that home and the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. After leaving Washington Nancy Reagan made numerous public appearances, many on behalf of her husband.

In late 1989, she established the Nancy Reagan Foundation, which aimed to continue to educate people about the serious 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. Subsequently she continued to travel around the nation, speaking out against the abuse of drugs and alcohol. After President Reagan revealed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, she made herself his primary care-person and became actively involved with the National Alzheimer’s Association and its affiliate, the Ronald & Nancy Reagan Research Institute in Chicago, Illinois.

Also in 1989 she published My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan. In it she gives an account of her life in the White House, speaking openly about the influence she had within the Reagan administration and about the myths and controversies that surrounded the couple. In 1991, controversial author Kitty Kelley wrote an unauthorized, and largely uncited, biography about Nancy Reagan, repeating rumors of supposed sexual relations with singer Frank Sinatra, and a poor relationship with her children. National Review observes that Kelley's unsupported claims are most likely untrue.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush on July 9, 2002. President Reagan received his own Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 1993. Earlier in 2002, Nancy and her husband were jointly awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on May 16 at the Capitol Building, being only the third President and First Lady to receive it; she was on hand to receive the medal for them both.

Nancy has continued to stay active in politics, particularly relating to stem cell research. Beginning in 2004, she favored what many consider to be the Democrat's position, and urged President George W. Bush to support federally-funded embryonic stem cell research in the hopes that such research would lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Although she was not successful in changing the president's opinion, she did support his campaign for a second term.

Nancy Reagan resides in her Bel Air home, where she lived with her husband until his death on June 5, 2004. During the six-day state funeral, Nancy, escorted by her military escort, traveled from her home to the Reagan Library, and to Washington, D.C., before returning to the library in California for the interment. At that ceremony, she broke down and cried for the first time in public during the week, and mouthed "I love you" to the casket before leaving.

She was briefly hospitalized in 2005 upon falling during a trip to the United Kingdom, and attended the National funeral service for Gerald Ford two years later in the Washington National Cathedral. She also continues to present the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award to one notable person who "embodied President Reagan's lifelong belief that one man or woman truly can make a difference." On February 6, 2007, she presented it to former President George H.W. Bush; other notable recipients include Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, and Rudy Giuliani. On May 3 of the same year, Nancy Reagan hosted and attended the first 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate at the Reagan Presidential Library. While she did not participate in any of the discussions, she sat in the front row and listened as the men vying to become the nation's 44th president claimed to be the rightful successor to her husband, the 40th.

She attended the funeral of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson in Austin, Texas 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. She mourned the death of friends Merv Griffin and Michael Deaver in August of that year. On October 18, 2007, Reagan joined Betsy Bloomingdale and Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad in honoring her once-fashion designer James Galanos with the Rodeo Drive Style Award.

Filmography

Footnotes

1. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 66
2. ^ "First Lady Biography: Nancy Reagan". National First Ladies Library. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
3. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 67
4. "The 'just say no' first lady". MSNBC. February 18 2004. Retrieved 2007-10-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 71
6. ^ "Nancy Reagan: Her Life & Times". Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
7. ^ Lally Weymouth (1980-10-26). "The Biggest Role of Nancy's Life". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2007-10-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 74
9. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 67
10. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 82
11. "Lute Song". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
12. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 85
13. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 88
14. "Biography for Nancy Davis". Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-17. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |115968&afiPersonalNameId= ignored (help)
15. ^ Cannon, Lou (2003), pp. 75–76.
16. ^ "Nancy Reagan > Her Films". Ronald Reagan Foundation. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
17. A. H. Weiler (credited as "A. W.") (1950-05-19). "Another View of Psychiatrist's Task". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
18. Bosley Crowther (1950-06-30). "'The Next Voice You Hear ...', Dore Schary Production, Opens at Music Hall". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
19. Sindelar, Dave. "The Next Voice You Hear... (1950)". SciFilm. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
20. Bosley Crowther (1951-06-11). "'Night Into Morning,' Starring Ray Milland as a Bereaved Professor, at Loew's State". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
21. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 91
22. Wills, Garry (1987). Reagan's America: Innocents at Home. Doubleday. ISBN 0385182864. p. 184.
23. Bosley Crowther (1954-01-21). "' Donovan's Brain,' Science-Fiction Thriller, Has Premiere at the Criterion Theatre". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
24. Erickson, Glenn (2003). "Hellcats of the Navy, review one". Kleinman.com Inc. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
25. Harper, Erick (2003). "Hellcats Of The Navy, review two". DVDVerdict. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
26. "Screen Actors Guild Presidents". Screen Actors Guild. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
27. ^ Cannon, Lou (2003), pp. 77–78.
28. "Noteworthy places in Reagan's life". The Baltimore Sun. 2004-06-05. Retrieved 2007-04-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
29. "First Ladies: Nancy Reagan". The White House. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
30. Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 296
31. ^ "End of a Love Story". BBC News. June 5, 2004. Retrieved 2007-03-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
32. ^ Berry, Deborah Barfield (June 6, 2004). "By Reagan's Side, but her own person". Newsday. Retrieved 2007-08-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
33. ^ Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 284
34. "Reagan Love Story". NBC News. June 9, 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
35. "Up Next for Nancy Reagan: tending her Ronnie's flame". St. Petersburg Times. June 13, 2004. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
36. Wolf, Julie (2000). "The Reagan Children". PBS. Retrieved 2007-10-17.
37. Reagan, Nancy (1989), pp. 148–149
38. ^ Cannon, Lou (2003), p. 233
39. ^ Reagan, Nancy (1989), pp. 135–137
40. ^ Charlie LeDuff (2004-11-19). "Forget the White House, Schwarzenegger Needs Digs Now". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
41. Robert_Windeler (1967-11-17). "Reagan Panel Fills Arts Chief's Post After It Ousted Aide". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
42. Lynn Lilliston (1968-12-13). "A Model First Lady". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
43. Cook, Lynn (2007). The First Ladies of California. Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 1425729657. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) pp. 110–111.
44. "Medal of Freedom Recipients: Nancy Reagan". medaloffreedom.com. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
45. ^ "Foster Grandparent's Program". Scholastic. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
46. Anthony, Carl Sferrazza (2003). America's Most Influential First Ladies. The Oliver Press. ISBN 1881508692. p. 135.
47. Samantha Jonas (2004-06-05). "Bio: Nancy Reagan". Fox News. Retrieved 2007-10-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
48. Benze, James G. (2005), p. 32
49. ^ Benze, James G., Jr. (2005), p. 33
50. "A Look Back At The Polls". CBS Interactive Inc. June 7, 2004. Retrieved 2007-09-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |accessate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
51. ""Lenox: White House"". Lenox, Inc. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
52. Klapthor, Margaret Brown (1999), p. 184
53. ^ West, Kevin. "Nancy's Closet". Style.com. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
54. Page, Susan (2004-06-13). "Husband's Past will shape Nancy Reagan". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-03-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
55. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 5
56. Noonan, Peggy. "Character Above All: Ronald Reagan essay". PBS. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
57. Beschloss, Michael (2007), p. 284
58. "Remarks at the Nancy Reagan Drug Abuse Center Benefit Dinner in Los Angeles, California". Ronald Reagan Foundation. 1989-01-04. Retrieved 2007-10-03. ...in Oakland where a schoolchild in an audience Nancy was addressing stood up and asked what she and her friends should say when someone offered them drugs. And Nancy said, "Just say no." And within a few months thousands of Just Say No clubs had sprung up in schools around the country. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
59. "Thirty Years of America's Drug War". pbs.org. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
60. Elliott, Jeff (May 1993). "Just say nonsense - Nancy Reagan's drug education programs". Washington Monthly. p. 3. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
61. ""Mrs. Reagan's Crusade"". Ronald Reagan Foundation. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
62. "'Diff'rent Strokes': The Reporter (1983)". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
63. "Final Edited Transcript: Interview with Max Friedersdorf" (PDF). Miller Center of Public Affairs. October 24–October 25, 2002. p. 60. Retrieved 2007-10-20. Mrs. Reagan was all upset, of course. He said that Senator Thurmond had come over to the hospital and had talked his way in, past the lobby, up to the President's room—he's in intensive care, tubes coming out of his nose and his throat, tubes in his arms and everything—and said that Strom Thurmond had talked his way past the secret service into his room and Mrs. Reagan was outraged, distraught. She couldn't believe her eyes. He said, 'You know, those guys are crazy. They come over here trying to get a picture in front of the hospital and trying to talk to the President when he may be on his deathbed. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
64. Reagan, Nancy (1989), p. 21
65. Thomas, Rhys (Writer/Producer); Donaldson, Sam (interviewee) (2005). The Presidents (Documentary). A&E Television.
66. Howard Kurtz (2007-05-02). "Ronald Reagan, In His Own Words". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Text "http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050102070.html" ignored (help)
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73. ""Congressional Gold Medal History"". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
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References

• Benze, James G., Jr. (2005). Nancy Reagan: On the White House Stage. United States of America: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 070061401X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Beschloss, Michael (2007). Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0684857057.
• Klapthor, Margaret Brown (1999). Official White House China: 1789 to the Present. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0810939932.
• Cannon, Lou (2003). Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power. Public Affairs. ISBN 1586480308.
• Reagan, Nancy (1980). Nancy: The Autobiography of America's First Lady. United States: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780688035334.
• Reagan, Nancy (1982). To Love a Child. United States: Bobbs-Merrill. ISBN 0672527111.
• Reagan, Nancy (1989). My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan. New York: Random House. ISBN 0394563689. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Reagan, Nancy (2002). I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan. United States: Random House. ISBN 0375760512.

External links

• Nancy Davis at IMDb
• White House profile
• Nancy Reagan profile at NNDB

• 1921 births
• Living people
• People from New York City
• First Ladies of the United States
• American film actors
• Reagan family
• Smith College alumni
• Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
• Congressional Gold Medal recipients
• American adoptees