Here’s a look at the life of Nancy Reagan, wife of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
Personal:
Birth date: July 6, 1921
Death date: March 6, 2016
Birth place: New York, New York
Birth name: Anne Frances Robbins
Father: Kenneth Robbins, car salesman and insurance agent
Mother: Edith (Luckett) Davis, actress
Marriage: Ronald Reagan (March 4, 1952-June 5, 2004, his death)
Children: Ronald Prescott, May 1958; Patricia Ann, October 1952
Education: Smith College, B.A., 1943
Other Facts:
Nancy was her childhood nickname and Davis was the last name of her stepfather, Dr. Loyal Davis, a neurosurgeon, who legally adopted her at age 16.
Strong supporter of the Foster Grandparents program, a service that pairs senior citizens with needy children.
As first lady of the United States, Reagan campaigned against drug and alcohol abuse among youth, acting as a spokeswoman for the “Just Say No” campaign.
Timeline:
1940s – Appears in stage productions.
March 2, 1949 – Signs a seven-year contract with MGM Studios.
1949-1957 – Appears in eleven films.
1949 – Meets Ronald Reagan, then president of the Screen Actors Guild.
1957 – Appears in her last film, “Hellcats of the Navy,” opposite her husband.
January 3, 1967 – Becomes the first lady of California when husband Ronald Reagan is sworn in as Governor.
January 20, 1981 – Becomes the first lady of the United States when Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th president.
October 1987 – Undergoes a mastectomy after a biopsy reveals a malignancy.
1994 – Ronald Reagan announces that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
October 1995 – The Reagans’ establish the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute to support Alzheimer’s research.
2002 – Is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush.
May 8, 2004 – Attends a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation event and gives a speech advocating for embryonic stem cell research.
June 3, 2009 – Unveils a statue of President Ronald Reagan in the Capitol Rotunda.
January 16, 2015 – Reagan announces that the Reagan Foundation will partner and host the GOP presidential candidates debate in 2015 with CNN. Nancy Reagan believes that her husband “..announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency because the citizens of this country wanted a president who could inspire…and it is time to find a new leader.”
March 6, 2016 – Reagan dies at her home in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure.