ExclusiveNancy Reagan: First Lady of Devotion

Welcome to American Legends. My name is Tiffany Brannon. Each culture has its legends, and that could be myths or different stories, but here in America, our greatest legends are the wonderful heroes who are right from our history pages. Now, some of these heroes are very famous and some are obscure, but each person deserves to be discovered because each man or woman stands as a great example of how we can be better Americans in our daily lives. If you study the history of all the American presidents and first ladies, it's interesting to see that very rarely were both husband and wife equally popular. Oftentimes, an unpopular president would have some saving grace through a very beloved wife, while some of the more popular presidents had first ladies who were maybe a little less popular. Today, we're going to talk about the wife of one of the most popular presidents in the late 20th century, who, while she attracted a lot of criticism, was a beloved figure in her own right. Nancy Reagan was the wife of 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. He was a very unique president in being the first actor-turned-politician to make it to the White House. Interestingly, his wife, Nancy, had a similar background. She was born Anne Frances Robbins in the year 1921. She was born in New York and her mother was an actress. She came from quite a performing family. When Anne was a little girl, her mother took to calling her Nancy, and that quickly became her regular name. When Nancy was quite young, her parents separated and eventually divorced, so she lived with her aunt and uncle for a while, just visiting her mother while she was still performing on the stage. Because she came from a broken home like this, Nancy was determined that she would have a good marriage and that she really wanted to be a wife. Eventually, her mother remarried to a very stable man named Loyal Davis. Nancy eventually was adopted by this stepfather, so her name legally became Nancy Davis. She was very close to the stepfather, whom she called just her father, and he was a very important role model in her life. He was a very conservative man and a very good and practical man. As a young lady, she went to several girls schools, including Smith College. There, she studied dramatics, among other things. She was a New York debutante before then pursuing an acting career. Because of her theatrical career, she was good friends with a lot of big names who were also Hollywood personalities, including Spencer Tracy and the Barrymores and many other Hollywood elite. She began with a few small roles on the stage before she was invited to make a screen test for MGM. With her mother's influence, the screen test was viewed by important director George Cukor, and she was signed to a seven-year contract. At MGM, she would make 11 films. She quickly became typecast as a wife and mother, although she remained unmarried at this point, because of her simple homespun looks. She wasn't the most glamorous young woman, although she was considered very beautiful with her very large eyes. She was very slender, but she seemed very sincere, very sort of simple and down-to-earth, so she was good in parts like that. But despite this somewhat simple background, she would often go up against some of the bigger actresses of the studio of the day for roles. Back when she was in New York, Nancy had been engaged to a young man. Before they could get married, he was tragically killed by a So perhaps that's why she waited so long for that day before getting married, since marriage was a goal of hers. In 1949, for some reason, her name ended up on a list of communists as part of the Red Scare during the House of Un-American Activities McCarthy era. At this point, the Screen Actors Guild was really going after communists and trying to root communism out of Hollywood. But Nancy Davis was not a communist, so she was very distressed that she was being blacklisted. She went to the president of the Screen Actors Guild, who happened to be fellow actor Ronald Reagan. He helped her solve this problem, which turned out that there was another woman named Nancy Davis, and they became friends. He was newly divorced from Jane Wyman at this point. They began going together for the next few years, and their Hollywood friends said that they didn't often make headlines because they wouldn't really go to nightclubs, since they were a couple completely free from vices. They ended up getting engaged very casually when, at dinner at a restaurant in Hollywood called Chasen's one evening, Ronald said to Nancy, let's get married. And she said, let's. They ended up getting married in 1952, and the first child, their daughter Patty, would be born within the year. At their rather simple ceremony, the best man and maid of honor were fellow actor and friend William Holden and his wife, actress Brenda Marshall. Nancy continued her acting career during her marriage to Reagan, and they appeared in one film together, Hellcats of the Navy, in 1957, which was her second-to-last film. After that, they also appeared on television a bit together in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They would have two children, Patty, who changed her name to Patty Davis later, and a son, Ronald Jr., who went by Ron Reagan. In 1966, Reagan ran for governor of California. Nancy was, of course, very supportive of whatever her husband wanted to do, but after he won, she didn't enjoy living in Sacramento too much. She missed the social scene and the friends she had back in Los Angeles. The governor's mansion was in very poor repair and quickly deemed a fire trap, so they had to seek quarters elsewhere. So they moved to a very well-to-do suburb. Despite the fact that the Reagans paid for this themselves, they gained a lot of criticism, particularly Nancy, as this being a snobby decision to not want to live in the governor's house. She defended her actions by saying she was just trying to protect her family, and, of course, her husband agreed with her on that point. But as the First Lady of California, Nancy proved a very popular hostess, a very charming presence, and she became involved with some charity work involving children. Because of her work helping children as First Lady, she wrote a book called To Love a Child about these experiences. When Reagan decided to run for president, first in 1976 and then in 1980, Nancy was a little reluctant at first. Not that she minded accompanying him in his campaign tours and the possibility of being First Lady of the whole nation. She was concerned about his safety and his health. She was worried about what such a bold political move would do to him, career-wise, as well as with his health and his personal well-being. However, she wanted him to do what he thought was right, so she supported him in his two bids for the presidency. In 1976, as incumbent First Lady Betty Ford was very popular, more popular than her husband, Gerald Ford, for that matter, it became a battle of the queens. Nancy Reagan was becoming quite popular in the tours she was making around and the speaking engagements, while Betty Ford was also very popular. So the two women were contrasted in the press and they would sometimes even have, not quite debates, but they would speak to each other publicly. Nancy was distressed at the public image her husband was being given by the opponents, that he was a warmonger, since she knew that he was just trying to achieve peace through strength. Ultimately, he would end up winning in 1980 and she was very actively involved in that campaign, traveling around a lot with him and separately from him to gain more support for him. Once he became president, it was her job as First Lady, of course, to be hostess of the White House. She enjoyed the role of hostess more than many of her predecessors and under her watch, she made the White House a very glamorous place with a lot of grand events. She hosted 56 state dinners during their eight years there and the White House was compared to the very glamorous opulent days of the Kennedy administration. Her fashion was similarly compared to that of Jackie Kennedy, as she was considered the most fashionable First Lady since Jackie. Like Jackie, she gained some criticism for being so fashionable because it was obvious that a lot of money was being spent on her clothes. Now, the Reagans, despite having both been actors, didn't have the kind of money that the And some of her clothes were purchased with donations that had been made to the Reagan family or, more commonly, a lot of her clothes were either given to her or loaned to her by designers or stores. And the same was true of her jewels because these designers found that when she wore something, it became very popular, so it was good for business for them to have her modeling their She defended her position, saying that she was trying to help the American fashion industry by supporting these American designers and showing them off to the people. And like the confident woman she was, she wouldn't really back down or apologize for being who she was. She was a movie star, for Pete's sake. I mean, you really can't blame her for wanting to be fashionable. And indeed, she was very fashionable, although most of the First Ladies up to this point had been still quite feminine. There's a real return to traditionalism in Nancy Reagan's style. She wore more hourglass silhouettes, even on her slim frame, with fuller skirts, bows at the neck, nice jewelry, high heels, and just a much more traditional look, a much more feminine look. And I think that was even reflected in the styles of the common people during the 1980s, perhaps, because she was a forerunner of this, in contrast to both the 1960s and 70s with the feminist hippie movement, as women began wearing more bohemian clothes and pants, and men began wearing almost more feminine clothes. The Reagans represented the kind of traditional look which you could see in the 40s, with the shoulder pads of women's style being a throwback to 1940s women's fashion. Nancy Reagan frequently was pictured wearing red. She famously wore a very stylish red coat over a matching dress at Ronald's first inauguration, and you could see her wearing red a lot if you look through the pictures of her. She said that she liked red because it was a picker-upper, and the bright shade of red she frequently wore became so associated with her that it was nicknamed Reagan Red. Now, I began to wonder, could this have something to do with the association of the color red with the Republican Party? Because up to this point, the parties didn't really have colors, and this may have had something to do with it, but it really wasn't until the 2000 election that the two colors became firmly associated, as they are now, red with Republican and blue with Democrat. In response to the criticism about her fashion, Nancy attended a gridiron banquet in 1982, dressed in a very comical outfit, pieced together with different old clothes, a funny hat, and she sang song Secondhand Rose. And this was really popular, it actually was a brilliant political move, perhaps drawing on some of that Hollywood shtick that she'd learned, and her approval ratings drastically increased after that. Nancy's political initiative while first lady was the war on drugs, which was also something her husband was doing. She became really aware of this problem, especially during the 1980 campaign, when she saw just how much recreational drugs were becoming a real threat and temptation to children. Her initiative was known as Just Say No, and she came up with this catchphrase when she was asked by a schoolgirl in 1981, what should I do if someone would offer drugs to me? She said, just say no, and that became the slogan that she used. She was very bold in her statements against recreational use of drugs, which really helped end the drug culture that had emerged in the 60s going into the 70s, and she especially spoke out about the dangers that these drugs were presenting to children. Now some people said that her initiatives didn't really take into account some of the poverty issues and the racial discrimination, but there always are going to be detractors. She really tried to make a very positive impact. Another issue which gained some controversy was regarding China. Now I think here I have to draw a comparison between the Reagans and the Lincolns. Ronald Reagan, like Abraham Lincoln, was a very popular Republican who kind of was a turning point for his party. However, his wife, like Lincoln's wife, Mary Lincoln, wasn't as popular as he was. Both first ladies were criticized for their opulent fashions, especially when the for the White House, which again, it seems like why is getting new dishes for the White House such a big deal? But there were a lot of dishes, and it was very expensive in both cases, so it just seems sort of extravagant and unnecessary. Now Nancy Reagan was certainly more popular than Mary Lincoln, and I would dare say she was a better first lady than Mary Lincoln, but I think that they had a similar way of being their own woman and not really being afraid of what people said, and also being fiercely supportive and protective of their husbands. Now Nancy, when ordering all this new China, which would be the first new China that had been ordered for the White House in many decades, and the cost came to over $200,000. But they didn't spend any of the government funds for this. She sought donations from private individuals. Now this became a controversial subject because it was a charity, so the donations were tax deductible, thus was saying ultimately the taxpayers ended up paying. But she wanted the White House to be a house not only for them, but for all the people, and she said that. So she felt it was important to spend some money and some effort on making the White House very nice. So she did a lot of redecorating, fixing cracks in the plaster, and just making it a lovely place. She also helped make it a warm and inviting place when Soviet Union leaders were coming to visit the White House. She was said to help chill the ice of the Cold War with her warm welcoming presence to Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife, among other Soviet leaders. The White House staff commented that she was very protective of her husband and very involved with what he did. Now I would venture to say she was not the most politically active First Lady in terms of making decisions with her husband. He definitely consulted her about a lot of things, but I don't think he consulted her about everything. He respected her opinion, but he didn't rely on her as closely as many other presidents did, because I'd say he had a lot of ideas of his own. He was a very strong man and a real independent thinker. But they always were really on the same page politically and personally, so there was no real reason for him to have to argue or debate with her. Especially after his assassination attempt in 1981, just a few months after he became president, she was very fearful for his life. And she hated, every time he left the White House, she just hated for him to be out of her sight. She was very concerned that his life could be in danger. She said, I don't know what I would do without my Ronnie. She always called him Ronnie, and he would affectionately call her Mommy. They had a very close marriage and a very intimate, loving relationship. They were married for 52 years and one of the longer presidential marriages, and she was always extremely devoted to him. In 1988, it came out that she had been consulting a horoscope expert since the assassination attempt when helping him arrange his schedule, because she thought, why take a chance? People especially saw this as rather strange because she was a Christian, and a lot of Christians thought this was rather superstitious of her. But again, she never really would back down or apologize when she felt that she should do something. In contrast to the first ladies who had directly preceded her, including Betty Ford and Pat Nixon, Nancy Reagan did not support abortion, just as Ronald Reagan did not. So, although she said she supported a woman's right to choose, she believed the abortion was murder and she didn't support it. Which was, again, an important turning point for the Republican Party, because up to this point, Republicans had been pretty much in support of abortion, at least the last couple, since the Roe vs. Wade decision. I guess they thought it was their duty to support the Supreme Court. But it really was sort of a line in the sand when Reagan made it clear that this should not be an issue that we Republicans are supporting. Harkening back to some earlier first ladies, Nancy made several comments which indicated that her husband was one of, if not the most important part of her life. She said, my life really began when I married my husband. She also said, everything just fell into place with Ronnie and me. We completed each other. On the other hand, she felt that every woman is entitled to an opinion and the right to express that opinion, especially to the man she's married to. She also said, I think a woman gets more if she acts feminine. Speaking about the importance of moral strength, she, interestingly, commented on the moral decline of movies in the decades after she had left Hollywood, saying, movies are attempting to destroy something that's supposed to be the most beautiful thing a man and woman can have by making it cheap and common. It's what you don't see that's attractive. Speaking about the horrible influence that drugs can have on the youth, she said, drugs take away the dream from every child's heart and replace it with a nightmare, and it's time we in America stand up and replace those dreams. Throughout her time in the limelight, Nancy was always noted for her grace, charm, and winning ways, even by people who were her detractors, perhaps. She said that our time in front of the camera really helped us in the political scene, and it seems that, indeed, it did. Certainly, as an actor, one has to face a lot of criticism, as well as a lot of attention and scrutiny. After leaving the White House, the Reagans retired to their ranch in California, as well as their home in Bel-Air, where they enjoyed a retirement together. But, sadly, their golden years didn't last that long, because by 1994, Reagan had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She would care for her husband in his declining health for the rest of his life, as he lived another 10 years. He recognized her, even as he no longer recognized many other people, as his memory was greatly declining, and she always cared for him very dutifully and lovingly, and even as she was helping him withdraw from the public limelight to preserve his image and his legacy, she remained by his side, steadfastly caring for him. Because of her experience with her husband, she became a real advocate for Alzheimer's research, encouraging future presidents to give funding to stem cell research in the hopes that it could one day be used to treat Alzheimer's. She herself had faced a health crisis when they were still in the It wasn't very major. In fact, it was believed it could have been cured by a much more minor operation, but she ended up having a mastectomy anyway, because she said she didn't have the time to undergo radiation chemotherapy, so it was sort of just easier to just have surgery. But after that, she lived a very many more decades and in good health, and she continued helping her husband with his advocacy and working with the library, which was founded in his honor in Simi Valley. As his health was declining, and even after he died, she felt that she still had that as part of his legacy. Nancy Reagan was part of an exciting time in American history, a time when both sides of the political aisle were able to come together and enjoy peace and Alongside her husband, she was part of a movement to restore traditionalism to the American people. It's interesting not only to see her during her White House years, but to also look at her Hollywood years and see her as an actress, since she's really the only First Lady to be a featured star. Thank you for spending this time with me, and I hope you'll join me next time for more American Legends.