She also shared memorabilia she still keeps, including a photograph of Ronald Reagan and then Nancy Davis on the set of “Hell Cats of the Navy” from 1957.
Advertisement
Former first lady Nancy Reagan’s Former Press Secretary Sheila Tate lives in Charlottesville and is sharing her fond memories of the former first lady. She was 94. Ronald Reagan died June 5, 2004.
My wife Anne and I first met Nancy Reagan in the fall of 1965 when I was writing a magazine profile of her husband, who was considering running for governor of California.
This would later lead to perhaps Reagan’s most famous catch phrase “Just Say No”, which became an all-encompassing anti-drug campaign in the 1980s during her husband’s presidency.
“Nancy Reagan once wrote that nothing could prepare you for living in the White House”, the Obamas wrote in a joint statement on Sunday. “He was lucky to have her and I’m sure he’d be the first to acknowledge that so she will be missed”.
The Obamas highlighted Nancy Reagan’s advocacy “on behalf of millions of families going through the depleting, aching reality of Alzheimer’s”.
She spent her time as first lady with a campaign against drug and alcohol abuse.
“When people try to crown Nancy Reagan as some champion of the AIDS epidemic, I always say, ‘Tell her friend Rock Hudson that, ‘” activist and TV host Scott Nevins said in an email. Many details of Friday’s funeral service were planned by Nancy Reagan before her passing. President Reagan was in office 1981-89.
In lieu of flowers, Mrs. Reagan had asked that contributions be made to the Ronald Reagan Memorial Fund at www.reaganlibrary.com.
“Our hearts are heavy at the loss of Nancy Reagan”, said Chairman Padgett.
Republican candidates for president also issued praise.
Advertisement
Kevin Cathcart, longtime executive director of the LGBT rights group Lambda Legal, says he’s cynical about such accounts of Nancy Reagan’s influence. “But clearly if you were a first lady, I’ve got to imagine you look at this and you think, ‘What has become of our democracy?” She was very intelligent, she was very astute. “Whereas Mrs. Reagan expected you to be competent and be loyal”. She will likely be remembered as a first lady who truly impacted the U.S.in a positive way.
