Gov. Thornburg said that, even as she exuded beauty and grace, at the foundation of it all was a “backbone of steel”.
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The Obamas say Mrs. Reagan became the voice of other family members going through the journey of Alzheimer’s disease with a loved one. As was Congressman John Kline, who served as a military aide to President Reagan, carrying the briefcase with the nuclear weapon launch codes. She did not just wait to protect her husband’s legacy after that fact.
“Their love story was like none other”, she said.
Nancy’s interest in astrology – which she allegedly tried to use to influence the presidential schedule – attracted ridicule near the end of the Reagan presidency.
Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romneytweeted that “with the passing of Nancy Reagan, God and Ronnie have finally welcomed a choice soul home”.
“I had tears in my eyes when I heard she died”, said Kritzer, who said he turned 18 just in time to vote for Ronald Reagan when he ran for a second term in 1984.
Alzheimer’s awareness became Nancy Reagan’s new campaign, along with burnishing her husband’s name and reputation.
Nancy Reagan played an active role in the 1980 presidential campaign, playing what the New York Times called “a leading role in the firing” of one campaign manager.
“Rosalynn and I are saddened by the passing of former First Lady Nancy Reagan”.
She was diminutive and publicly soft spoken but Nancy Reagan’s strong will, high-tone tastes and clout with her husband made her a controversial figure during his presidency.
When she swept into the White House in 1981, the former Hollywood actress partial to designer gowns and pricey china was widely dismissed as a pre-feminist throwback, concerned only with fashion, decorating and entertaining. She was always a stickler for protocol and detail and stoically presided over the former president’s weeklong funeral and celebration of his life in June 2004.
“We remain grateful for Nancy Reagan’s life, thankful for her guidance, and prayerful that she and her beloved husband are together again”, they said in a White House statement.
But when it came to drug abuse among youth she took the lead. She was cast mostly as a loyal housewife and mother.
Mother Nature, it seems, had her own tribute in mind.
Speaking of Mrs. Reagan from his home in Ligonier on Sunday where he and his wife, Ginny, were hosting family, Gov. Thornburgh described Mrs. Reagan as “the personification of beauty and grace”.
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Anne Davis went by the nickname Nancy as she grew up and graduated from Smith College in 1943, did some acting on the Broadway stage, and broke into the movies when MGM’s George Cukor gave her a bit part in 1949’s “East Side, West Side”. During this time, she met Ronald Reagan and they were married on March 4, 1952.
