Nancy Reagan, Former First Lady, Dead at 94

Nancy Reagan, the helpmate, backstage adviser and fierce protector of Ronald Reagan in his journey from actor to president — and finally during his 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease — has died. She was 94.

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By The Associated Press

3/6/2016Updated: 3/6/2016

LOS ANGELES—Nancy Reagan, the helpmate, backstage adviser and fierce protector of Ronald Reagan in his journey from actor to president—and finally during his 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease—has died. She was 94.

The former first lady died Sunday at her home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles of congestive heart failure, assistant Allison Borio told The Associated Press.

Her best-known project as first lady was the “Just Say No” campaign to help kids and teens stay off drugs.

Nancy Reagan photographed Jan. 11, 1989, wife of Ronald Reagan. Location unknown. Likely Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi) — Nancy Reagan photographed Jan. 11, 1989, wife of Ronald Reagan. Location unknown. Likely Washington. AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi

When she swept into the White House in 1981, the former Hollywood actress partial to designer gowns and pricey china was widely dismissed as a pre-feminist throwback, concerned only with fashion, decorating and entertaining. By the time she moved out eight years later, Mrs. Reagan was fending off accusations that she was a behind-the-scenes “dragon lady” wielding unchecked power over the Reagan administration—and doing it based on astrology to boot.

All along she maintained that her only mission was to back her “Ronnie” and strengthen his presidency.

President Ronald and first lady Nancy Reagan give farewell waves following a fundraiser for the Campaign Fund for Republican Women, Feb. 15, 1984 in Washington. Speaking on what would have been the 164th birthday of suffragist Susan B. Anthony, Reagan told the group "We can be proud that, as women have taken on new roles in American society, the GOP has given them firm support." (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) — President Ronald and first lady Nancy Reagan give farewell waves following a fundraiser for the Campaign Fund for Republican Women, Feb. 15, 1984 in Washington. Speaking on what would have been the 164th birthday of suffragist Susan B. Anthony, Reagan told the group "We can be proud that, as women have taken on new roles in American society, the GOP has given them firm support." AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

Pres. Ronald Reagan, right, and Mrs. Nancy Reagan wave to photographers as they return to the White House after spending the weekend at Camp David, Md., Sunday, Dec. 2, 1984, Washington, D.C. The Reagans are scheduled to host a reception for the Kennedy Center honorees at the White House this evening. (AP Photo) — Pres. Ronald Reagan, right, and Mrs. Nancy Reagan wave to photographers as they return to the White House after spending the weekend at Camp David, Md., Sunday, Dec. 2, 1984, Washington, D.C. The Reagans are scheduled to host a reception for the Kennedy Center honorees at the White House this evening. AP Photo

But her admirers credited Mrs. Reagan with restoring grace and elegance to the White House after the austerity of the Carter years.

Her substantial influence within the White House came to light slowly in her husband’s second term.

Although a feud between the first lady and chief of staff Donald Regan had spilled into the open, the president dismissed reports that it was his wife who got Regan fired. “The idea that she is involved in governmental decisions and so forth and all of this, and being a kind of dragon lady—there is nothing to that,” a visibly angry Reagan assured reporters.

Pres. Ronald Reagan, right and Nancy Reagan share a laugh during the performance of the Beach Boys at the White House, Sunday, June 12, 1983, Washington, D.C. The rock group provided entertainment for the guests and participants in the Special Olympic festivities. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart) — Pres. Ronald Reagan, right and Nancy Reagan share a laugh during the performance of the Beach Boys at the White House, Sunday, June 12, 1983, Washington, D.C. The rock group provided entertainment for the guests and participants in the Special Olympic festivities. AP Photo/Scott Stewart

But Mrs. Reagan herself and other insiders later confirmed her role in rounding up support for Regan’s ouster and persuading the president that it had to be done, because of the Iran-Contra scandal that broke under Regan’s watch.

She delved into policy issues, too. She urged Reagan to finally break his long silence on the AIDS crisis. She nudged him to publicly accept responsibility for the arms-for-hostages scandal. And she worked to buttress those advisers urging him to thaw U.S. relations with the Soviet Union, over the objections of the administration’s “evil empire” hawks.

President Ronald Reagan and Mrs. Nancy Reagan greet reporters on the South Lawn of the White House shortly after their return from the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., on July 22, 1984. The Reagans spent the weekend at Camp David. (AP Photo/Tim Aubry) — President Ronald Reagan and Mrs. Nancy Reagan greet reporters on the South Lawn of the White House shortly after their return from the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., on July 22, 1984. The Reagans spent the weekend at Camp David. AP Photo/Tim Aubry

Near the end of Reagan’s presidency, ex-chief of staff Regan took his revenge with a memoir revealing that the first lady routinely consulted a San Francisco astrologer to guide the president’s schedule. Mrs. Reagan, who had a longtime interest in horoscopes, maintained that she used the astrologer’s forecasts only in hopes of predicting the safest times for her husband to venture out of the White House after an assassination attempt by John Hinckley just three months into Reagan’s presidency.

Pres. Ronald Reagan, left, puts his arm around First Lady Nancy Reagan in the Oval Office shortly after he announced that he will seek a second term as President, Sunday, Jan. 30, 1984, Washington, D.C. Reagan, 72, confirmed that Vice President George Bush will again be his running mate in a campaign already well underway. (AP Photo/Ira Schwarz) — Pres. Ronald Reagan, left, puts his arm around First Lady Nancy Reagan in the Oval Office shortly after he announced that he will seek a second term as President, Sunday, Jan. 30, 1984, Washington, D.C. Reagan, 72, confirmed that Vice President George Bush will again be his running mate in a campaign already well underway. AP Photo/Ira Schwarz

Anne Frances Robbins, nicknamed Nancy, was born on July 6, 1921, in New York City. Her parents separated soon after she was born and her mother, film and stage actress Edith Luckett, went on the road. Nancy was reared by an aunt until 1929, when her mother married Dr. Loyal Davis, a wealthy Chicago neurosurgeon who gave Nancy his name and a socialite’s home. She majored in drama at Smith College and found stage work with the help of her mother’s connections.

Nancy Reagan, California's new first lady, brushes away a tear early, Jan. 2, 1967 in Sacramento, Calif., after her husband was sworn in as the state's 33rd governor. Gov. Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in Sacramento's capitol rotunda in post-midnight ceremony. (AP Photo) — Nancy Reagan, California's new first lady, brushes away a tear early, Jan. 2, 1967 in Sacramento, Calif., after her husband was sworn in as the state's 33rd governor. Gov. Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in Sacramento's capitol rotunda in post-midnight ceremony. AP Photo

In 1949, MGM signed 5-foot-4, doe-eyed brunette Nancy Davis to a movie contract. She was cast mostly as a loyal housewife and mother. She had a key role in “The Next Voice You Hear ...,” an unusual drama about a family that hears God’s voice on the radio. In “Donovan’s Brain,” she played the wife of a scientist possessed by disembodied gray matter.

Nancy Reagan blows kisses to the demonstrators for her husband, California Gov. Ronald Reagan, after he was nominated to be the Republican Party's presidential candidate, Aug. 7, 1968, at the GOP convention session in Miami Beach. (AP Photo) — Nancy Reagan blows kisses to the demonstrators for her husband, California Gov. Ronald Reagan, after he was nominated to be the Republican Party's presidential candidate, Aug. 7, 1968, at the GOP convention session in Miami Beach. AP Photo

She met Ronald Reagan in 1950, when he was president of the Screen Actors Guild and she was seeking help with a problem: Her name had been wrongly included on a published list of suspected communist sympathizers. They discussed it over dinner, and she later wrote that she realized on that first blind date “he was everything that I wanted.”

They wed two years later, on March 4, 1952. Daughter Patti was born in October of that year and son Ron followed in 1958. Reagan already had a daughter, Maureen, and an adopted son, Michael, from his marriage to actress Jane Wyman. (Later, public spats and breaches with her grown children would become a frequent source of embarrassment for Mrs. Reagan.)