On March 6, 2016, Nancy Davis Reagan, the 40th first lady of the United States, passed away, almost 12 years after her late husband, Ronald Reagan.
Nancy was known for many things throughout her life. She was an actress, a hostess of fabulous White House gatherings, a mother, a first lady of California and the United States, an advocate against drugs and a wife.
“My job is being Mrs. Ronald Reagan,” she once said.
During her time in office, she ran a campaign that encouraged Americans to “just say no” to drugs. Nancy was not the first in her role to stand for a cause though. Eleanor Roosevelt was the pioneer there.
According to Joseph Kicklighter, history professor, Ronald would often seek Nancy’s advice on presidential matters. However, she was not particularly known as the first lady who had too much control or too strong of an opinion in the White House. Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Clinton are two examples of active first ladies in the office.
One claim Nancy could make in terms of her role as first lady was her fervent, unwavering and unconditional dedication to her husband. This was obvious not only during Ronald's entire career but also during his battle with Alzheimer’s. She was dedicated to their marriage, his mission and his legacy.
“He announced his Alzheimer’s in 1994, and if she left his side, he would start going to pieces,” Kicklighter said. “If you go back in the paper, they said she was the only person he recognized after a while.”
Ronald had four children. He had two with his first wife, Jane Wyman, and two with Nancy. It is common for the husband to get jealous of the children, according to Kicklighter, but this was not the case with the Reagans.
“Whatever emotional resources she had, after her husband, went to the children,” Kicklighter said. “Numero uno was Ronald, though.”
Despite the passing of her best friend in 2004, Nancy continued to carry on the legacy of Ronald. Since Ronald considered Nancy to be half of his heart, in some ways, as long as she was still around, a part of him was too.
“Her whole life was devoted to the Reagan museum and the Reagan library because it’s not like she was going to take off and say, ‘That’s over,’” Kicklighter said. “She kept right on as the disciple.”
The death of Nancy represents more than the death of a first lady. Nancy was the half that made Ronald whole. When he was still on the Earth physically but not mentally, she was there to care for him and speak one behalf of him. When he passed away, she carried on his legacy.
Ronald once wrote a letter addressed to St. Valentine (but delivered to Nancy) in 1977. It was published in the book "I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan." In one of the lines of this letter, he tells St. Valentine of his wife’s two hearts. When he passed away, he left a piece of himself on this Earth, and now that she is gone, a part of him is gone as well.
“For one thing she has two hearts — her own and mine,” Reagan said. “I’m not complaining. I gave her mine willingly, and like it right where it is.
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