Nancy Reagan (1921-2016): The Power Behind The Throne

Official White House photograph of Nancy Reagan, wife to then-President of the United States Ronald Reagan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ronald and Nancy Reagan were a team, as most marriages and partnerships tend to be.  For 52 years, they shared houses, children, defended each other and grew old together.  Unlike most marriages and partnerships, this one was played out before the whole world.

Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis met as actors before tying the knot, even appearing in one movie together ("Hellcats of the Navy" in 1957).  She was at his side during the transition into politics when he was elected Governor of California in 1966, and then President of the United States in 1980.

As First Lady, Nancy Reagan brought Hollywood-style elegance into the White House, with all the lavish parties and designer dresses she wore.  She was also instrumental in starting the "Just Say No!" campaign, which was intended to get kids to reject drugs and alcohol.  Naive as it sounded even then, the program was a resounding success despite its critics.  And because of it, the President was able to expand the War on Drugs to the level we see today.

There were indications that Reagan was not merely the President's wife, but also the power behind the throne.  She took charge after an assassination attempt on her husband two months into his term, restricting access to him and constantly defending him through illness, scandal and dealings with the Soviet Union on nuclear treaties.  It was reported that the Reagans used astrology (Ronald was an Aquarius, Nancy a Cancer) to guide them through policy decisions.  Because of the President's advancing age (he was 78 at the time he left office) and the lingering effects of the assassination attempt, the First Lady took more matters into her own hands than anyone in his administration felt comfortable with.

A few years after the Reagans left the White House and moved to California, the former President was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease.  After he died in 2004, Nancy Reagan became an advocate for embryonic stem cell research as a potential treatment for Alzheimers and other age-related diseases.  This came as somewhat of a betrayal to her husband's conservative loyalists, who linked embryonic stem cell research to the abortion issue because of the use of fetuses.

Nancy Reagan died Sunday of congestive heart failure at age 94.  Presumably, she and Ronald are together again working as a team.