“The cause of death was congestive heart failure”, Joanne Drake, who is also the chief administrative officer of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, said in a statement.
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She married the once-divorced Reagan – the beginning of a decades-long love affair.
She was harshly criticized by others as first lady, for her fancy taste and renovations to the White House.
“Nancy Reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the White House”, said President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle”.
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger paid tribute to Mrs. Reagan, calling her “one of his heroes”. “It did”, she said.
From her own political involvement to being an adoring, loving wife, Nancy played a seminal role in the career of our 40th president, and it is widely stated as common knowledge that without her, there would have been no Reagan presidency.
Mrs. Reagan carried that charge through the rest of her days, serving as his full-time caretaker until his death in 2004.
In 1985, Nancy Reagan hosted an global conference at the White House focusing on drug prevention among youth, attended by the first ladies of 17 countries.
To this end, she extensively redecorated the White House, and accepted designer dresses worth $1m (£600,000) and a 4,732-piece set of china worth $209,000. She left the hospital and couldn’t sleep. Her penchant for lavish spending and astrology may have made the headlines but behind the scenes she had “appointed herself the primary guardian of her husband’s interests and legacy, a bad cop to his good cop, which often put her at odds with his senior staff”, as the Washington Post puts it.
Before she became first lady of the United States, Nancy Regan had served in that role for the state of California. “There is absolutely no question that Ronald Reagan would not have been the man he was without the eternal love and support from Nancy at his side every step of the way”.
At the time, Reagan was president of the Screen Actor’s Guild, and she thought by meeting with him, she might be able to enlist his help. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released a statement commenting on how Nancy Reagan impacted the United States and will “forever be missed”.
When Ronald Reagan became Governor of California in 1967, Nancy began visiting wounded veterans, hospitals, the elderly, and schools for handicapped children. “Mrs. Reagan was fiercely loyal to her beloved husband, and that devotion was matched only by her devotion to our country”.
As his memory faded and he no longer recognized the woman he had loved for half a century, Nancy Reagan again closed ranks around him, shielding him from public view and even from old friends to protect his image and dignity.
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“I don’t talk about political matters”.
