Nancy Reagan and the role of first lady

    A news release posted on the Ronald Reagan Foundation website said the cause of death was congestive heart failure. The wife of Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, she was a visible force in the White House for eight years in the 1980s. Her husband died June 5, 2004.  
    She will be buried at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, beside her husband, the Reagan foundation said.
    Born July 6, 1921, in New York City, Nancy Davis was a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and a stage and screen actress in the 1940s and '50s.
    In 1952, she married Reagan, a fellow actor. Although she made 11 films, according to the Reagan Foundation, she worked with him in only one -- Hellcats of the Navy (1956).
    By the 1960s, her husband had turned to politics, becoming governor of California in 1967. All the while, he had an eye on the presidency. He ran for the Republican nomination in 1968 against Richard Nixon and in 1976 against Gerald Ford. In 1980 he won the nomination and was elected, defeating the incumbent, Jimmy Carter.
     When historians ranked first ladies,they placed Reagan 15th out of 39. With a brilliant smile and every hair in place, she was the textbook image of first lady. Behind the scenes, she was an effective political operator. Here is how she tackled her most high-profile roles:

As advocate: As first lady, she was known for the Just Say No program, created to educate young people about the dangers of drug abuse. 

As personal adviser: She and her husband had an interest in astrology -- a belief that the alignment of the stars can influence human events. In 1988, The New York Times quoted a White House spokesman who confirmed that the first lady was "particularly worried about the impact astrological portents can have on her husband's safety."

As political adviser: In the book, Veil, The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981-1987, (Simon & Schuster, 1987), journalist Bob Woodward wrote that as Reagan’s campaign manager, William Casey, “had to assess the power centers around Reagan. The looks, the voices, the glances, the subtle deference told one story: Nancy. Actor James Stewart had once remarked, 'If Ronald Reagan had married Nancy the first time, she could’ve got him an Academy Award.' "

As power broker:  Her biography on the White House website notes that she was quoted as saying, "My life really began when I married my husband." They had two children, Patti and Ron. (Her husband had two other children, Maureen and Michael, from a previous marriage.)    
     She created a “myth” about “her own lack of influence in anything beyond the traditional wifely realms of domesticity and charity. This portrait had always been false,” wrote Jane Mayer and Doyle McManus in the 1988 book, Landslide: The Unmaking of The President, 1984-1988.
     She was her husband’s dogged advocate and a powerful force in the White House. In 1986, the president's popularity plunged in the wake of the Iran-Contra affair. (Administration officials were accused of illegally selling arms to Iran in an attempt to free American hostages and funneling the money to a rebel force in Nicaragua.)   
    The first lady thought Don Regan, the chief of staff, “was responsible for her husband's declining popularity and worked behind the scenes to have him fired,” recounted The New York Times, in its 2003 obituary for Regan.

    Related:

    History and the first ladies: How do they rate?

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