Nancy Reagan

She soon starred in the 1953 science fiction film Donovan's Brain; Crowther said that Davis, playing the role of a possessed scientist's "sadly baffled wife", "walked through it all in stark confusion" in an "utterly silly" film. In her next-to-last movie, Hellcats of the Navy (1957), she played nurse Lieutenant Helen Blair and shared the screen for the only time with her husband, playing what one critic called "a housewife who came along for the ride". Another reviewer, however, stated that Davis plays her part well, and "does well with what she has to work with". Read Less

The skit helped to restore her reputation.

Nancy Reagan reflected on the criticisms in her 1989 autobiography, My Turn. Reagan describes lunching with former Democratic National Committee chairman Robert Strauss, wherein Strauss said to her, "When you first came to town, Nancy, I didn't like you at all. But after I got to know you, I changed my mind and said, 'She's some broad!'" Nancy responded, "Bob, based on the press reports I read then, I wouldn't have liked me either!"

After the presidencies of Gerald Ford (who favored the Michigan fight song over "Hail to the Chief") and Jimmy Carter (who dramatically reduced the formality of presidential functions), Nancy brought a Kennedy-esque glamour back into the White House. She hosted 56 state dinners over eight years, compared to six by George and Laura Bush. She remarked that hosting the dinners is "the easiest thing in the world. You don't have to do anything. Just have a good time and do a little business. And that's the way Washington works." In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev became the first Soviet leader to visit Washington, D.C. since Nikita Khrushchev in 1959, and Nancy Reagan was in charge of planning and hosting the important and highly anticipated state dinner. After the meal, Nancy recruited pianist Van Cliburn to sing a rendition of "Moscow Nights" for the Soviet delegation, to which Mikhail and Raisa broke out into song. Read Less

Nancy first became aware of the need to educate young people about drugs during a 1980 campaign stop in Daytop Village, New York. She remarked in 1981 that "Understanding what drugs can do to your children, understanding peer pressure and understanding why they turn to drugs is... the first step in solving the problem." Her campaign focused on drug education and informing the youth of the danger of drug abuse. Read Less

According to former ABC News correspondent Sam Donaldson, when the President heard of this treatment, he demanded—and eventually received—Regan's resignation. In his 1988 memoirs, Regan wrote about Nancy's consultations with the astrologer, the first public mention of them, which resulted in embarrassment for the First Lady. Nancy later wrote, "Astrology was simply one of the ways I coped with the fear I felt after my husband almost died... Was astrology one of the reasons attempts did not occur? I don't really believe it was, but I don't really believe it wasn't."

Nancy Reagan wielded a powerful influence over President Reagan. Again stemming from the assassination attempt, she strictly controlled access to the president and even occasionally attempted to influence her husband's decision making.

Beginning in 1985, Nancy strongly encouraged her husband to hold "summit" conferences with Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev, and suggested they form a personal relationship beforehand. Both Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev had developed a productive relationship through their summit negotiations. The relationship between Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev was anything but the friendly, diplomatic one between their husbands; Nancy found Raisa hard to converse with and their relationship was described as "frosty". The two women usually had tea, and discussed differences between the USSR and the United States. Read Less

Press framing of Nancy changed from that of just helpmate and protector to someone with hidden power. As the image of her as a political interloper grew, she sought to explicitly deny that she was the power behind the throne. At the end of her time as First Lady, however, she said that her husband had not been well-served by his staff. She acknowledged her role in reaction in influencing him on personnel decisions, saying "In no way do I apologize for it." She wrote in her memoirs, "I don't think I was as bad, or as extreme in my power or my weakness, as I was depicted," but went on, "However the first lady fits in, she has a unique and important role to play in looking after her husband. And it's only natural that she'll let him know what she thinks. I always did that for Ronnie, and I always will." Read Less

Ten days after the operation, her mother, Edith Luckett Davis, died in Phoenix, Arizona, leading Nancy to dub the period "a terrible month".

After the surgery, more women across the country had mammograms, an example of the influence the First Lady possesses. Read Less

The Foundation teamed with the BEST Foundation For A Drug-Free Tomorrow in 1994, and developed the Nancy Reagan Afterschool Program. She continued to travel around the nation, speaking out against drug and alcohol abuse. Read Less

In February she suffered a fall at her Bel Air home and was taken to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Doctors reported that she did not break a hip as feared and she was released from the hospital two days later. News commentators noted that Reagan's step had slowed significantly, as the following month she walked in very slow strides with John McCain. Read Less