Nancy Davis was born Anne Frances Robbins, the only child of a car salesman father and an actress mother. Her parents divorced shortly after her birth and Nancy lived with an uncle and aunt until she was eight years old, when her mother married Dr. Loyal Davis of Chicago. Several years later Dr. Davis formally adopted her, and her name was legally changed to Nancy Davis.
After graduating from Smith College in 1942, Nancy followed in her mother’s footsteps and pursued an acting career, ultimately appearing in eleven motion pictures and in numerous television programs. In 1949 she met actor Ronald Reagan, who was then serving as president of the Screen Actors Guild and who had recently divorced actress Jane Wyman. Nancy and Ronnie began dating and three years later they were married. Together they had two children, and Nancy also became the stepmother to Reagan’s two children from his first marriage.
During Ronald Reagan’s political career, Nancy was active and supportive. She was involved in numerous philanthropic works during her eight years as First Lady of California and was generally popular with the public and the media. But her tenure as First Lady of the United States was often controversial. She was often criticized as extravagant and insensitive. Her anti-drug “Just Say No” initiative was applauded by some but ridiculed by others. Critics complained that he spent too much money on clothes and had too much influence over her husband. A scandal arose when it was discovered that after he was nearly killed in an assassination attempt, Nancy adjusted the president’s travel schedule based on advice from astrologers. Nevertheless, most Americans approved of her performance as First Lady.
Shortly after the Reagans left the White House, Nancy published her memoirs. Titled “My Turn,” the book was partially an answer to her critics, but also Nancy’s opportunity to discuss her 1987 bout with breast cancer (which had required a mastectomy) and her deep love and affection for her husband.
After the announcement in 1994 that President Reagan had Alzheimer’s disease, the couple withdrew from public life and Nancy became her husband’s primary caregiver. He died ten years later, at age 93. Much of the public found the Reagans’s devoted and loving relationship endearing (their friend Charlton Heston called it the “the greatest love affair in the history of the American Presidency”) and in 2000 Nancy published a collection of the couple’s love letters which she titled “I Love You, Ronnie.”
Mrs. Reagan was actively involved with the National Alzheimer's Association, and she lobbied for support of stem cell research aimed at finding a cure for the disease. In 2002, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Nancy grew increasingly frail in her later years, suffering from the effects of several debilitating falls. On March 6, 2016 (eight years ago today) Nancy Davis Reagan passed away at her home in Los Angeles. She was 94 years old.
The image is her official White House portrait, by Aaron Shikler (1987).
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