“Nancy is going to be buried right next to [the former president], which is what she wanted”, NPR’s Nathan Rott reports.
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Her husband, Ronald Reagan, was heavily criticised for not mentioning the word AIDS until 1987, after many thousands had died from complications related to the disease.
The funeral of former US First Lady Nancy Reagan was held today but Clinton has been forced into an embarrassing apology after facing a backlash over her comments. As shown in the screen grab from CSPAN above, it looks like it’s a lesson that actor Gary Sinise is honored and super psyched to receive.
The program also includes a letter from Ronald to Nancy Reagan, to be recited by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, a close friend of the couple, and eulogies by Reagan’s chief of staff, James Baker, former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, and two of Reagan’s children – her daughter Patti Davis and son, Ron Jr.
Rest in peace, First Lady; and never change, Mr. T.
Nancy died on March 6 from congestive heart failure at her home in Bel-Air, California.
Hours after praising former first lady Nancy Reagan’s legacy on the AIDS epidemic, Hillary Clinton recanted the comments and apologized to her supporters.
Mourners included former Reagan administration official Ed Meese, former House Speakers Newt Gingrich (Republican) and Nancy Pelosi (Democrat), Mike Love of the Beach Boys and singer Johnny Mathis.
She is to be buried beside her husband in a private graveside service at the library on Friday evening, following a televised memorial ceremony attended by dignitaries and celebrities.
Rain is in the forecast, but its timing is uncertain. She was criticized for her consistent, sometimes rigid protective behavior of her husband; for spending too much on frivolity like $200,000 chinaware for the White House and traveling to Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding; and chastised for consulting an astrologer to help plan the president’s schedule. Jerry Brown escorted Mrs. Obama to the funeral, while former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived with his ex-wife, Maria Shriver. Dr. C. Everett Koop, the administration’s surgeon general, said the president dragged his feet on the issue “because transmission of AIDS was understood to be primarily in the homosexual population and in those who abused intravenous drugs”.
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According to Lois Romano of the Washington Post, who wrote, I believe, an excellent tribute to the former first lady, “The controversies during her years as first lady often obscured her profound influence on one of the most popular presidents in modern history”.
